CMHA Kelowna

Supporting a Mentally Healthy Kelowna

  • Mental Health
    • Find Help Now
    • Learn About Mental Illnesses
    • Explore Your Mental Health
    • Talking to Teens About Mental Health
    • Supporting a Friend or Family Member
    • Workplace Mental Health
    • Preventing Suicide
  • Programs & Services
    • Youth & Families
      • Foundry Kelowna
      • Foundry Kelowna’s Wellness on Wheels
      • Youth Housing & Services
    • Housing
      • CMHA Kelowna Housing
      • Youth Housing & Services
      • Central Okanagan Rent Bank
      • Rent Supplements
      • Case Management
      • Homelessness Outreach Navigator
      • Scattered Sites Program
    • Wellness
    • Virtual Counselling Services
  • Community Education
    • Blog Post
  • Ways to Get Involved
    • The Payton & Dillon Budd Memorial Ride
    • Donate
    • Events & Activities Calendar
    • Host, Sponsor or Support an Event
    • Volunteer
    • All Careers
  • Discovery College
  • About Us

Budget 2019’s child and youth mental health funding begins to fill service gap

February 19, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Victoria, BC (February 19, 2019) – “Significant new funding for child and youth mental health and substance use services will begin to fill the huge gap that exists between the needs of BC’s children, youth and young adults, and available services, and support implementation of the Province’s anticipated child & youth mental health plan,” said Kendra Milne, Senior Director, Policy and Planning of the Canadian Mental Health Association BC Division. “We know that many mental health and substance use problems arise in childhood or youth and it is a key time to ensure we support kids and young people to thrive and be well – these new investments have the potential to improve lifelong outcomes for kids who need them.”

CMHA BC highlights the Province’s investment of $74 million over three years, starting with $18 million in 2019-2020, which in addition to anticipated federal funding through the Federal Health Funding Agreement, has the potential to support a robust and significant provincial child & youth mental health and substance use plan. This funding is focused on early childhood wellness, mental health for school-age children and increased access for mental health and addictions services. The Province’s Child and Youth and Adult Mental Health and Substance Use strategies, with more details around spending specifics, are expected in the coming months.

“Together with historic action on childhood poverty through the BC Child Opportunity Benefit, we are seeing a significant commitment to addressing mental health and wellness earlier in life, said Milne. “We know that income is a crucial driver of mental health, and the new Child Opportunity Benefit, childcare investments, modest increases to disability assistance and income assistance, and improvements to support family members caring for a foster child or an adult with a disability are all significant. We look forward to seeing the anticipated Provincial Poverty Reduction plan next month to learn more.”

Budget 2019 does not contain clear funding commitments to implement the anticipated adult mental health and substance use plan. “CMHA BC looks forward to seeing the adult plan and funding details about how the plan will be successfully implemented,” said Milne. “People across British Columbia tell us every day there is desperate need for a coordinated, comprehensive system of mental health and substance use services for adults. We encourage British Columbians to continue to speak out for the right to mental health.”

Key Facts on mental health and substance use in BC Budget 2019

Mental health and substance use services funding

  • $74 million over three years for mental health and addictions services for children, youth and young adults, distributed as $18 million in 2019-2020, $26 million in 2020-2021 and $30 million in 2021-2022.
  • We expect this funding will be used to implement the Province’s Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use strategy, which expected in the coming months.
  • This is in addition to federal funding through the Federal Health Funding Agreement which may target child and youth mental health services.
  • This funding is focused on
    • Parent-child social and emotional development programs for young children
    • School based programs for mental wellness promotion, prevention and early intervention for students at risk or experiencing early signs of mental health or substance use challenges
    • Specialized service teams comprised of educators, counsellors, mental health practitioners, substance use workers and other professionals to support children, youth and their families
    • Expansion of Foundry centres serving children and youth aged 12-25
    • $30 million over three years for increased support for the opioid emergency response
    • The Child & Youth and Adult Mental Health & Substance Use Strategies are expected in the coming months
    • Budget 2019 does not contain clear funding commitments to implement the anticipated adult mental health and substance use plan

Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions

  • The Ministry continues to receive approximately $10 million for coordination, policy & planning

Support for determinants of mental health

  • A new Child Opportunity Benefit replaces the previous early childhood tax benefit with significantly higher income supports particularly for families with incomes under $25,000. The income threshold is reduced to include fewer families.
  • A modest income to income assistance and disability assistance rates of $50 per month
  •  Removing barriers to access income and disability assistance through the BC Employment Assistance Program, including:
    • Helping clients obtain personal identification
    • Aligning the definition of spouse to other benefit programs to ensure fairness in the level of support couples and individuals receive
    • Extending the shelter rate to those paying room and board to a family member
    • Continued last year’s announcements around access to affordable housing and childcare

This post originally appeared on CMHA BC Division’s website

Filed Under: News Tagged With: BC Budget Homelessness, BC Provincial Budget 2019, Buget 2019, CMHA, CMHA Kelowna, homelessness, mental health, mental health and substance use funding

More Recent News

CMHA Kelowna celebrates International Women's Day
News
March 8, 2023

CMHA Kelowna celebrates International Women’s Day

Even in 2023, gender and age are still major determinants in accessing mental health support. There are 5,213,000 young women and girls in Canada. Each has hopes and dreams, ideas and feelings of their own. Amira dreams of designing video games. Laura loves baking and is in school to be a pastry chef. Inori hates […]

Read More
Mental health within Black communities in Canada: profiles of advocates (and bonus resources!)
News
February 14, 2023

Mental health within Black communities in Canada: profiles of advocates (and bonus resources!)

This Black History Month, we honour the work of Black Canadians, past and present, to the field of mental health in Canada. Despite ongoing systemic racism and unequal opportunities, African, Caribbean, and Black Canadians continue to make significant contributions to this field. Stacy-Ann Buchanan Mental health advocate, entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, documentary filmmaker, actress and podcaster. […]

Read More
Rockets to host mental health awareness game with CMHA Kelowna
News
February 3, 2023

Rockets to host mental health awareness game with CMHA Kelowna

The Kelowna Rockets have partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Kelowna for a mental health awareness game on Friday, February 3, 2023 when the Rockets take on the Vancouver Giants at 7:05pm at Prospera Place. The game day experience will have several features to promote the importance of mental health, including: A CMHA-run kiosk […]

Read More

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

WHO WE ARE

ABOUT CMHA KELOWNA
MISSION VISION & VALUES
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OUR TEAM


WHAT WE DO

REPORTS & IMPACT
LATEST NEWS
NEWSLETTER
COMPLAINTS


GET INVOLVED

CAREERS
EVENTS
GET INVOLVED
MEDIA LIBRARY


CONTACT

CMHA Kelowna
504 Sutherland Avenue, Kelowna, BC. V1Y 5X1
Phone: 250-861-3644
Fax: 250-763-4827
E-mail: [email protected]

CMHA Kelowna Charitable #: 10686 3392 RR0001

contact us | resources | privacy | site map

Imagin Canada Logo

The Standards Program Trustmark is a mark of Imagine Canada used under licence by Canadian Mental Health Association - Kelowna Branch.

The CMHA Kelowna offices are located on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded lands of the Okanagan Nation and Syilx peoples. We are committed to sustaining relationships with Indigenous people based on respect, dignity, trust, and cooperation in the process of advancing truth and reconciliation.


Copyright © 2023 Canadian Mental Health Association, Kelowna