Ontario’s largest children’s mental health advocacy group is warning that kids struggling with serious mental health issues amid the pandemic could be left behind unless the province steps up with more support.
Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO), a group representing almost 100 publicly funded child and youth mental health centres, is calling on the province to provide more funding for community mental health centres for youth.
The ask comes on the heels of new data that reveals children and youth with mild to severe mental health issues are suffering disproportionately during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kimberly Moran, the CEO of CMHO, said more than 130,000 children and youth across Ontario access help at community centres instead of schools, but those centres haven’t had any further support from the province to expand their services in recent months.
She added funding school-based mental health services alone will not help children with more severe issues.
“The research is clear that there’s going to be an increased impact to the mental health of kids and their families,” Moran said.
The Ontario government had already pledged $20 million in the summer to bolster mental health services in schools. But in a new report released Friday by CMHO and The Ontario Centre of Excellence in Child and Youth Mental Health, experts are warning it is wrong to only focus on and fund school-based mental health supports.
Moran said her worry stems from knowing that mental health centres in Ontario are not prepared for the anticipated increase in demand.
“What we’re saying is we’ve got to get ready,” she said. “We’re here, we’re ready to help, but we need the government to help too.”
Studies and polls conducted by clinicians in Ontario between April and June on the mental health of children and youth in the province reveal that two-thirds of young people aged 12 to 25 said their mental health has gotten worse since the pandemic.
In particular, those who were already getting help before the pandemic were more vulnerable, according to research led by Dr. Ashley Radomski at the University of Ottawa. Most respondents reported experiencing mild to moderate levels of anxiety, while 20 per cent reported severe anxiety.
Children and youth struggled the most with disturbed sleep patterns and difficulty concentrating, and some experienced physical symptoms of anxiety like stomach aches and headaches. This is a result of losing routine and structure during the pandemic, Moran said, as well as the general added stress financially and emotionally on households and families.
Radomski’s research further showed that those who were older than 18, female, living in a northern community and from a poorer economic background were at an increased risk for mental health distress.
Moran said those who are particularly struggling need more specialized care than what is provided through Ontario school boards, like long-term behavioural therapy and counselling. But these supports, she added, have always had exceptionally long wait-times even before the pandemic. The research shows the pandemic will add a heightened demand for these services, especially with some children seeking support for the first time.
“What we worry about is that for kids who have more serious issues that they are going to wait, and that’s just not acceptable,” she said. “It’s not acceptable now and it’s not acceptable before.”
Mario Cappelli, a child psychologist in Ottawa, said while demand for his services slowed down at the beginning of the pandemic, his practice has seen an increase since the beginning of August as families prepare to send their children back to school.
There has also been an increase in new client referrals, Cappelli said, of about 10 to 20 per cent in the last few weeks. “None of this comes as a surprise,” he said, though he added there has been a notable increase in parents worrying about their children displaying external challenges, like acting out or increased cannabis use.
The funding Ontario had already announced for in-school mental health support will be used to hire more social workers and psychologists, the Ministry of Education said, as well as offering new programs to help students connect with those mental health professionals.
But advocates have criticized the funding as not enough to help boost an inadequate support system that will experience additional strain due to COVID-19. Pre-pandemic, there were about only 1,000 social workers and other regulated mental health professionals working with Ontario schools, serving around two million students.
“Schools were already struggling to help those kids prior to the pandemic,” Cappelli said, particularly children with more severe concerns. “You’re working with an uber underfunded system.”
Radomski’s research revealed that almost all of 1,300 children and youth surveyed — 92.4 per cent — felt certain mental health services would be helpful for them in the future, while 30 per cent said they already were getting help at the time of the survey with a health-care provider, either in person or online.
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Moran said the impact of not bolstering existing community services will bleed into other sectors. It would strain hospitals, Moran said, as statistics show children’s hospital visits due to mental health disorders have more than doubled in the last decade, at a time when hospitals have limited resources as they try to treat those ill with COVID-19.
About 70 per cent of adults with mental health issues began experiencing symptoms as children, Moran added, and earlier intervention is the best tool to ensure these kids are best supported as they transition into adult life.
The province has previously pledged $3.8 billion in 2019 to mental health and addictions over the next 10 years. With the strain of the pandemic on youth, Moran said she believes the time to act is now.