(Toronto, ON) May 6, 2024. National Child and Youth Mental Health Day is on May 7 and is a part of Children’s Mental Health Week from May 6 to May 12, 2024. Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO) is encouraging all of Ontario to join us as we raise awareness about the importance of child and youth mental health and well-being. Together with our 85 community child and youth mental health centres, we will promote the importance of the mental health and well-being needs of young people and offer resources to families. We will also remind policymakers and governments that equitable access to quality mental health care is essential.

Children and youth are facing unprecedented levels of mental health challenges with increasing complexity. Recent data shows that mental health challenges made up four of the top ten reasons for hospitalizations among 5 to 17-year-olds in Ontario. Despite recent new investments in Ontario to address long wait lists and increased demand post-pandemic, decades of chronic underfunding in community mental health care and the current shortage of mental health professionals are really placing strain on kids of all ages and their families.

This Children’s Mental Health Week, we encourage individuals, schools, families, and communities to have bold and compassionate conversations about young people’s mental health, which helps to destigmatize mental health challenges and raise awareness of the importance of families being able to access community-based mental health care more easily. Our community child and youth mental health centres serve thousands of children, youth, and families annually, but we know that many more are still waiting. They must not be left to face these challenges alone.

To celebrate Children’s Mental Health Week and National Child and Youth Mental Health Day on May 7, communities across Ontario are encouraged to spread the word about the importance of child and youth community mental healthcare in Ontario with friends, families, and colleagues.

Looking for support? A list of mental health resources for parents and kids is available at cmho.org and family.cmho.org. Social media posts with links to resources are also be available from CMHO and through the hashtags #KidsCantWait, #MentalHealthWeek, and #CMHW2024.

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For more information, please contact Taylor at tsalisbury@cmho.org.