province expands free counselling programs for children across sask.
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regina, sask : june 11, 2021 -- kirk englot, chief operating officer of family service regina, stands in the service's office in regina, saskatchewan on june 11, 2021. family service regina is participating in the launch of a provincial hub for rapid access counselling services run by family service saskatchewan. this hub is to allow people anywhere in saskatchewan to quickly book a counselling session with a counsellor near them in-person or with one anywhere in the province, virtually. brandon harder/ regina leader-post
brandon harder
/
regina leader-post
a $1.7 million investment from the province will mean young people in regina and saskatoon are able to see a counsellor for free.
but getting in to see a child psychiatrist will still mean a long wait.
family service saskatchewan (fssk) already offers free, rapid-access counselling services across the province but now the service is expanding to cover children, youth and their caregivers.
kirk englot, ceo at family service regina, said there will be in-person and telephone services available. englot said professional counsellors with credentials and licences will focus on working with children who will be brought into the fold.
“our goal has been to make it easy for people to access services at the time they need it,” said englot.
all the counsellors will be located in saskatchewan and will be accredited to practice in the province.
“if people have to wait for services, sometimes things get worse,” said englot, adding that it means that someone ends up at an emergency room and are in crisis.
englot hopes programs like this can meet youth and their caregivers when they need it most, to try and get help to people when needed most.
fssk, a non-profit organization comprised of 13 family service agencies from across saskatchewan, did almost 10,000 appointments last year and with this new investment, englot says it will be able to do even more.
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“there’s no fee, there’s no need for a referral, there’s no need to present a health card,” he said. “the criteria is very flexible and that was done very intentionally.”
everyone answering phones are taking on counselling will have a social work or counselling degree and everyone would be a registered social worker or counsellor. englot said the saskatchewan health authority preserves their services for people “higher needs” while people with “less acute needs” are sent to fssk,” said englot.
saskatoon-based child psychiatrist tamara hinz said the expansion of this service, for children especially, is great to see
“i certainly welcome any announcements or movement toward increased availability and accessibility of counselling,” said hinz.
the money is going to a community-based organization and while hinz says improving access is fantastic there needs to be more funding for sha services directly.
“you can access psychiatrists for free but any other type of mental health care, people are often having to pay out of pocket,” she said.
hinz said counsellors with a social work background won’t have the ability to diagnose or do assessments of patients. child psychiatrists can, and hinz said “we are unfortunately a pretty rare breed.” she said there are fewer than 20 in saskatchewan.
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“wait-lists to see us are extremely long,” said hinz. in saskatoon, it’s not unusual for a child to have to wait two years to get in to see a child psychiatrist.
“it sounds absurd coming out of my mouth to even say that. the wait-list is most dire up in prince albert,” she said.
“this announcement is fabulous, and it certainly will do some good but it won’t affect the wait times or the general practices of child psychiatrists,” said hinz.
but everett hindley, minister of mental health and addictions, said the announcement will mean already taxed services could see some reprieve.
“the ability to quickly connect young people with the community and health services they may need is crucial for tackling the wide range of mental health issues ranging from anxiety and depression to domestic violence and addictions,” said hindley.
fssk offers services in assiniboia, biggar, craik, cudworth, estevan, gravelbourg, humboldt, kamsack, kelvington, kindersley, leader, martensville, moose jaw, north battleford, prince albert, regina, rosetown, saskatoon, swift current, unity, wadena, weyburn, wynyard and yorkton.
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