The creation of a Central Intake system that connects the different mental health prevention and treatment services and resources to children, youth and their families across the region. This Central Intake system would be the front door to services and supports for children, youth and their families who need help with a mental health issues.
Central Intake would have a helpline component, to answer your questions, guide families through the referral process or steer them to an agency or service in the community that could best meet their needs. It could also have an additional line for service providers to call to put their clients on waiting lists. This has the potential to reduce the amount of misuse and duplication of services in the area. For an example of how this might work, please see Kinark Child and Family Services.
“Here’s another thing that would be great for Halton, a central intake, and I know that’s been talked about... but it seems to work well in other communities. I used to work out in Simcoe County and I know Hamilton and Niagara both have them too, and they’re beautiful because it’s that team of people who are deciding, what course of action? Where is this family going to go?” (FW)“So if there was one central intake, then they could weed them through. I know in Simcoe County we had [Agency 1] and then we had [Agency 2], and if you were getting service from [Agency 1], you could not come to [Agency 2] unless it was a service that they couldn’t offer. So, if you were getting family counselling here and you didn’t like your worker, you had to talk to the manager and you had to sort that out and request another worker, rather than just going to New Path, or doing both.” (FW)
