The Manitoba government has announced that it is taking action to improve service times for youth on the waitlist for counselling services at Huddle NorWest.
“Children and youth who are experiencing mental health challenges should not have to wait for help,” said Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith, minister responsible for mental health. “By recruiting more health-care professionals to help reduce wait times for counselling services, we can make it easier for youth and their families to get the help they need, when they need it.”
The Manitoba government is providing $200,000 in funding to enable Huddle NorWest to hire 3.5 full-time clinicians to provide additional counselling appointments, serving an additional 140 youth who were previously on the waitlist.
“As the first Huddle youth hub in the province and one of the few services available to provide ongoing free counselling for youth in Winnipeg, during the pandemic we have received a substantially higher number of referrals for mental health support than we had capacity to meet,” said Kendra Monk, co-ordinator, Huddle NorWest. “Our team was amazing at providing drop-in counselling and mental health support groups during this time, but it was very difficult for us to not be able to meet the continued demand. We are so grateful to the province for this investment, which has enabled us to absorb our wait list entirely and provide needed counselling supports to youth in Manitoba. As a team, we are planning for how to adapt and offer the best services in a post-pandemic world.”
Huddle NorWest is one of six Integrated Youth Services sites, known as huddles in Manitoba. Between October and December 2023, the site served 295 youth, including 83 new clients, and provided 171 counselling appointments.
Huddle sites are innovative service delivery centres designed by youth for youth that bring together mental health, addictions, primary care, peer support and other social services into an accessible, inclusive and culturally safe space. The sites collaborate with community partnerships and multiple organizations to offer a comprehensive range of services under one roof for Manitobans aged 12 to 29 and their families.
Huddle is an initiative of the Manitoba government, together with United Way Winnipeg and other philanthropic partners. United Way Winnipeg is leading this collaborative partnership as a part of the national evidence-based Integrated Youth Services network.
For more information, visit huddlemanitoba.ca.
