WINDSOR-ESSEX CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
Supporting Students - Youth Mobile Clinic expanding to include three high schools

A pilot project designed to improve student health and well-being by providing direct, in-school mental health services and basic medical support will be expanded to include a total of three Catholic schools this September.

The Youth Mobile Clinic was launched as a pilot project at F.J. Brennan Catholic High School towards the end of the last school year and based on its success, the same services will be offered beginning in September at Assumption College Catholic High School and Cardinal Carter Catholic Secondary School.

A partnership between the Windsor-Essex branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, and the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, the Youth Mobile Clinic functions by locating social workers and registered practical nurses right in the school in a convenient location where students can drop in for confidential, one-on-one support without an appointment.

The initiative is Funded by Ontario Health's Locally Driven Collaborative Projects program fund, which flows through the Windsor-Essex branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

"The Youth Mobile Clinic brings care directly to young people where they need it most," said Andrew Dowie, MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh. "Our government is proud to support local initiatives that put student well-being first and build healthier futures across Windsor-Essex and throughout Ontario."

An essential priority in the WECDSB's Mental Health Action Plan involves collaborating with community partners to meet the needs of students by providing them with timely mental health supports, according to WECDSB Superintendent Kelly-Ann Bull, whose portfolio includes student mental health and well-being.

"We're extremely fortunate to have such excellent partners in our community and are grateful for their commitment of valuable resources to supporting our students and their families," she said.

Students often struggle to access care due to transportation barriers and because services are not always available where and when they are most needed, according to Nicole Sbrocca, CEO of CMHA Windsor-Essex,

"Together with our partners we recognized this need to bring on-site supports in schools and communities for youth who are most at risk," she said. "The clinic goes to students where the need is, instead of asking them to get a referral to go elsewhere."

Sbrocca described the clinical professionals as navigators who can either provide care in the moment with a single appointment, or follow-up appointments, but who can also provide referral to another agency depending on the student's needs.

Besides the pilot project at Brennan, similar services were offered at various locations throughout July and August through the Summer Youth Mobile Clinic project. So far, project administrators have seen a great deal of success according to Kristy McBeth, Senior Director at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.

"The team is really integrating into the school community, getting to meet the students and creating a comfort level and a safe space in a place where students already feel safe," she said. "By having us there, we extend that trust. We know there are a lot of benefits to reaching people where they are, so we are providing options for students to get help when they feel they need it."

"As a Windsor-Essex specialty hospital with a focus on caring for patients and clients from infancy through end of life, we know that a healthy life, both physically and mentally, is important at any age," said Bill Marra, President and CEO at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare. "We are proud to be a partner of the Youth Mobile Clinic to ensure that our community's youth can access these impactful supports to help them build the foundations for a healthy adulthood. By sharing these resources with even more of today's youth through this expansion, we are shaping a healthier generation for tomorrow."

According to Sbrocca, the initiative still has two more years of funding.

"So we have two years to grow, sustain and build the evidence base to secure funding in perpetuity, which will be critical for the community," she said.