Can’t wait for kids to receive this service’: Call to improve mental health support for Indigenous children – CBC
Nogdawindamin Family and Community Services proposing to take over children mental health services
Jul 26, 2017
Indigenous children living in communities along the north shore of Lake Huron are waiting up to two years for mental health support, according to the Chief of the Serpent River First Nation in northern Ontario.
“The children are the future of our communities, so we really need to tackle this issue,” Elaine Johnston said.
“I look at some of the trauma issues that we’re dealing with in our communities and these are long-standing issues, and I think that we need those supports to be able to get out of this.”
Youth from Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., are dealing with anxiety, depression, physical cognitive delays, attention deficit disorder and autism, according to Johnston. She said there are also babies who have fetal alcohol syndrome and opioid addiction in the region.
