Todd Smith, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, announced up to $5 million in funding for new and expanded Indigenous mental health and addictions services, including support for continued community-led responses to social crisis.
"It will support mental health training, development, and support for frontline workers, including youth-focused outreach workers who provide culturally appropriate support," says a news release.
“It’s important to be responsive to the diverse needs of Indigenous communities through programs and services that are designed by Indigenous peoples and delivered in a culturally appropriate way,” said Smith.
This funding is part of the additional $174 million the government is providing this year to address critical gaps in services across Ontario and support patients and families living with mental health and addictions challenges. To ensure mental health and addictions service providers have stable, long-term funding, the government will be making this additional funding available every year according to the release.
“This additional funding for Indigenous communities will help support more culturally appropriate frontline services and address some of the critical gaps in the system," said Christine Elliott, Minister of Health.
This funding will support approximately 20 organizations to expand their services for Indigenous communities, support the training of more than 700 frontline workers, and provide up to 90 full-time jobs in Indigenous service delivery organizations.
