Free rapid access counselling service for children and youth launches in Swift Current
The expansion of a mental health walk-in service at Fresh Start in Swift Current is making free, rapid access counselling available to children, youth and their caregivers.
The announcement of the walk-in counselling service for children and youth took place at Fresh Start in downtown Swift Current, Dec. 1.
“Children and youth are facing huge challenges today, and the expansion is certainly necessary,” Fresh Start Executive Director Sally Wiens said. “We’ve got great counselling services in this community. However, there is significant need and so we’re really excited to open the doors further to help children, youth, and their caregivers specifically. We have a counsellor targeted to that, and we’re excited about that.”
Fresh Start is a member agency of Family Service Saskatchewan. This announcement was part of an initiative by the Government of Saskatchewan to provide $1.7 million in new annual funding to Family Service Saskatchewan to expand its rapid access counselling program. Fresh Start is the latest location where mental health walk-in counselling for children and youth are now available in the province. This service has been launched at 16 other locations since May.
The provincial government has set a goal under the new 2023-28 Action Plan for Mental Health and Addictions to expand rapid access counselling for children and youth to all 24 locations of Family Service Saskatchewan where these services are currently available for adults.
The availability of this free, walk-in counselling service for adults at Fresh Start in Swift Current is already well used.
“Our counselling service typically operate at 90 per cent capacity,” Wiens noted. “We are anywhere from 85 to 95 per cent monthly. So the uptake is huge, and there’s times when we’re very pressed for service.”
She felt the addition of a counsellor to focus on children, youth and their caregivers will help to take some pressure off the existing adult counselling service.
“In counselling adults, we will have moms that will come in,” she said. “They’re desperate to be a better mom or learn how to understand their children better. Counselling occurs and, in that process, children may come in for counselling. I think what’s good now is we can focus more specific on adult counselling, and we can focus specifically on child, youth, and their caregivers counselling.”
Swift Current MLA and Minister of Health Everett Hindley made the announcement about the counselling service for children and youth at Fresh Start.
“It’s wonderful to have this additional service here,” he said. “We have a number of great organizations in our community. … This particular service here at Fresh Start really helps provide yet another option for people that might be struggling, whether it’s anxiety, depression, any number of mental health concerns. And the fact that it’s a low barrier option for people that can literally walk in off the street, and just come in here and meet with someone, either get service right then and there or in fairly short order set up an appointment.”
He noted that the Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth made a recommendation in the report Desperately Waiting, which was released in March 2022, that mental health support needs to be expanded to children and youth across the province.
Family Service Saskatchewan also made a similar suggestion when he had a meeting with the organization in the summer of 2022 in his previous cabinet role as minister responsible for mental health and addictions.
“I think there’s more pressure than ever before on people of all ages when it comes to mental health and their mental well-being,” he said. “I’ve heard it from parents. I’ve heard it from educators that they’re seeing younger and younger kids that are struggling with that. That’s why it’s so critical for us as a government and with our partners or agencies that do this. If we can help provide that to people sooner, rather than later, think of all the other serious and sometimes tragic consequences you can perhaps avoid by getting that help to them as quickly as you can.”