Youth mental health hubs ‘twice as busy’ as a year ago: CMHA WW

While the mental health waitlist continues to be up and down in Waterloo Region and Wellington County, the need to support youth in our community continues to be front and centre.

The head of the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington (CMHA WW) says The Grove Hubs, which support youth mental health and wellness, are “twice as busy as it was last year.”

“Not only has it doubled its volumes into The Grove, but of those folks that are coming in, we’ve seen an increase of 88 per cent needing to access more clinical services,” said Helen Fishburn.

“When kids are coming in, they’re coming in specifically cause they need support and some care.”

Numbers haven’t really changed since the pandemic. In the midst of it, and after lockdowns were lifted, other issues have risen to the surface that are making an impact on everyone.

“Look around the world,” Fishburn noted. “We have world wars, we have political divisiveness, we have really significant financial pressures and constraints being faced by everyday families.”

“We have a lack of housing, a lack of supportive housing, a really toxic drug supply on our streets. All of those layers impacts people. It impacts every single person, and then it impacts vulnerable families even more so, at a deeper level.”

She added even though you see kids going to school, going about their activities, there is a level of tension that exists. And with that, a level of worry and stress within vulnerable families that children absorb.

“They feel it, they hear it, and they take that on,” Fishburn said. “When parents are stressed, their kids are stressed.”

Last year, the first-ever mentally healthy communities survey was conducted by the CMHA.

The plan is to conduct that survey every couple of years.

It indicated approximately 4,000 people are on a waitlist to access mental health care across Waterloo and Wellington. When asked if the last year has put a dent in that number, Fishburn said it hasn’t really made much movement in the last four years.

As of Thursday morning, the number was at 3,251. But Fishburn added it could go up to 3,400 a month from now.

“It never goes below 3,100,” she said. “And at any given time, it can fluctuate between a couple of hundred people.”

Support for youth is growing, with the opening of a seventh Grove Hub at the YMCA next summer.

“Every time you open a door, the capacity is just there, it just shows up,” Fishburn said. “If you build it, they will come. 

“No matter where you are across our system, if you open up that door, you will have people at it immediately. We fully expect that for The Grove, and it’s an amazing way for youth to be able to access basically whatever they need.”

Another thing she looks forward to is the HART hub model announced by the provincial government in August.

Fishburn said it is unfortunate to lose the CTS sites, which will create risks for the community, particularly people who are “literally struggling to live every single day.”

With the HART hub funding, Fishburn said a number of things will come from it.

She said she will do her best to create a clinical team, from primary care to mental health and addictions, a link to housing, as well as safe beds, both for the short and long-term.