Our Strategic Plan
2024–27
Together for a Better Tomorrow
Infants, Children, Youth & Families First
Children’s Mental Health Ontario is dedicated to improving the mental health and addictions system for all infants, children, youth, and families by centering their voices in everything we do, delivering exceptional support to our members, and collaborating with partners across children and health and social service systems.
No infant, child, youth, or family left behind.
Our Foundational Commitments
Centering the Voices of Children and Families
Advancing Equity,
Anti-Racism, and
Anti-Oppression
Honouring Truth and Reconciliation
Addressing the Social Determinants of Health
Our Strategic Plan
Through an extensive engagement process that included surveys, interviews, and focus groups with youth, families, CMHO members, and partners, using an equity-informed approach, four key themes were clear that informed the development of this plan:
Increasing Needs, Acuity, and Complexity
Long Wait Times and Barriers to Accessing Care, Especially for Equity-Deserving Communities
Partnership and Systems of Care Approach is Essential
Building on our Collective Strengths and Success
Our Strategic Goals
CHAMPION
Champion a system that centers the needs of infants, children, youth, and families.
Our commitments
- Amplify advocacy and solutions that advance the important role of community child and youth mental health and addictions within a systems of care approach.
- Integrate and elevate the voices of children, youth, and families as a fundamental part of all advocacy endeavors.
- Explore and identify new advocacy approaches and partnerships with an explicit focus on equitable access, quality, and outcomes for Ontario’s diverse populations and regions and those with co-occurring and intersecting needs.
- Empower local advocacy among members, youth, and families.
COLLABORATE
Collaborate to improve access, quality, and outcomes.
Our commitments
- Collaborate with members, youth, families, and partners to address gaps and reduce barriers across children and health systems to improve access, quality, and outcomes for infants, children, youth, and families.
- Advocate and partner to advance system quality improvement, including standardized data collection and evaluation.
- Work with members and partners to explore and evaluate the potential benefits, challenges, and opportunities of sector integration and mergers to strengthen system efficiency, increase accessibility, and improve quality.
- Research alternative avenues for sustainable revenue to strengthen CMHO’s capacity and programs.
PRIORITIZE EQUITY
Prioritize equity and social justice across child and youth mental health and addictions.
Our commitments
- Embed Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression, and Truth and Reconciliation principles throughout our organization.
- Drive forward Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism, and Anti-Oppression through thought-leadership and initiatives across the system.
- Collaborate with partners to address the social determinants of health and systemic barriers to access and services for equity-deserving communities.
