New B.C. care plan for mental health and addictions aimed at young people

The B.C. government released its10-year plan Wednesday to better address mental health and addictions care in the province, including $10 million for subsidized counselling services.

"There is nothing more pressing than ensuring every young person has the supports they need to not just survive, but thrive,"said Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy while making the announcementwith the premier at a North Vancouver high school.

"These longstanding problems in mental health and addictions care won't be fixed overnight. But by starting to move from a crisis-driven system to early intervention and prevention, especially for children and youth, we can help people before their problems become more severe," she said.

Premier John Horgancriticized the previous provincial government fornot keepingpace with "the obvious need in the community."

Focus on youth and Indigenous populations

The new plan called A Pathway to Hopefocuses on children, teens and young adults with priorities that includeimproving accessto quality of care andsupporting solutions created by Indigenous people.

The number of B.C. students experiencing depression rose by 50 per centbetween 2013 and 2015, according to a survey cited by the government, while reportedanxiety rose by more than 135 per cent. About17 per cent ofstudents have alsoseriously considered suicide in the last year.

TheCanadian Mental Health Association called the plan a good start.

"It shifts the focus quite rightly to mental health promotion, interventionand targets some really key populations that have experienced a lot of inequity in access to care for some time,"said Jonny Morris, CEO with the B.C. division of the CMHA.

The provincial government says it currently spends $2.5 billion annually on mental health and substance abuse through various departments, butmost of that goes tohospital-based services.

Priority actions over the next three years include:

• $10 million in grants to non-profit organizations to provide low- or no-cost psychotherapy.
• Establishing integrated child and youth teams in five school districts.
• Opening eight more Foundry youth centres to provide access tomental health care, substance use servicesand peer supports.
• Supporting the construction of two new First Nations urban treatment centres and providing renovations to several existing centres.

With filesfromCBC'sOn the Coast