Mental health biggest issue for Sask. children and youth

Saskatchewan’s Advocate for Children and Youth is coming back to mental health as the top issue facing children and youth in the province.

“It really doesn’t matter whether they live on-reserve or off-reserve, whether they live in a small town or whether they live in a big city, how much money they make or which side of the tracks they live on — it really doesn’t matter — what we’ve learned this year and over the past few years (is that) mental health and addictions is, by far, the number one issue facing our children and youth,” Corey O’Soup said Tuesday.

O’Soup repeated his criticism of wait times for mental health services, calling them “shameful.” He said in some cases, patients have to wait up to two years to receive and access proper services.

In his 2018 report, released Tuesday morning, O’Soup revealed death and injury numbers for children and youth who either received services from the government at the time or had within the preceding year.

Last year, eight of those children or youth died by suicide in Saskatchewan. That’s up from two in 2017.

O’Soup said the notifications his office is getting on young people who are attempting or who have died by suicide is disconcerting.

“I believe that every death is preventable, particularly when it comes to the mental health of our children and youth,” he said. “I believe suicide deaths are some of the most preventable, and I think that if we invest in our children and youth, if we take seriously the issue of their mental health, I believe that we can prevent most of these deaths.”

In his report, O’Soup highlighted several innovative programs across the province which he believes are making a difference in kids’ lives. He pointed to programs like “Survivor 101” in Saskatoon, which is a safe space for teens to share, discuss and learn about how to navigate life as a teen.

Another program O’Soup spoke about is the Pinehouse Photography Club, which introduces youth to photography skills and the hobby’s potentially therapeutic effects. O’Soup said he believes that program has literally saved lives.

O’Soup said he has seen some positive movement on the youth mental health front from the provincial government. Additional funds in the recent budget will bring the province’s spending on mental health up to about seven per cent of the entire health budget.

“But I would encourage them not just to aim for average when it comes to our children and youth,” O’Soup said. “But let’s get to that nine and 10 per cent where other provinces are at, and let’s try and lead the way.”

O’Soup said the biggest thing he thinks the province needs to do to fix the problems that help these negative numbers persist is to listen.

“Listen to our kids, listen to our community. Solutions can’t come from this building. Solutions have to come from our community, solutions have to come from our young people,” explained O’Soup.

O’Soup said there isn’t time to wait and called for the government to prioritize children and youth mental health.

Indigenous youth

O’Soup also pointed out struggles many Indigenous kids have, as they are a majority of children and youth receiving government services.

He said young Indigenous girls are 29 times more likely than non-Indigenous girls to die by suicide, and young Indigenous boys are nine times more likely.

O’Soup said far too many of the deaths and critical injuries his office deals with are Indigenous youths.

Twenty children currently or recently receiving services died in 2018, and 16 of them were identified as Indigenous or Métis. All but one of the 45 such children who were critically injured were Indigenous or Métis.

“So for me it’s critical that we continue to build relationships with our First Nations partners, especially when decisions are being made about them and about their children,” O’Soup said. “We cannot do this without them, we cannot do this without them having a voice, without them being in the room, without them being a part of the process. Those days are done, and we need to continue to move forward.”

Jurisdiction for Indigenous youth in care

O’Soup also expressed support for the federal bill which would move jurisdiction for Indigenous youth in government care to Indigenous groups.

“If it’s properly funded, if the issue around jurisdiction is properly figured out, I 100 per cent support Indigenous people taking back control of their own child welfare system,” O’Soup said.

He said there will always be issues no matter who’s taking care of their children, but they need to give it a try. O’Soup said Indigenous groups have shown in the past that they can take care of their children.

“Let us show you. Give us an opportunity to prove it,” O’Soup said.

Government, Opposition  react to report

The Saskatchewan NDP is using the advocate’s report to help push the province to do more on social services.

Opposition Leader Ryan Meili said the large number of deaths detailed in the report jumped out at him, along with the mental health needs. He pointed to the eight children who died by suicide in the report, and the large number of kids dealing with things like anxiety and depression.

“And when that’s the reality and you still have kids waiting months and months and months to see anyone or living in communities where they have access to no one who can offer mental health supports – that’s a crisis that this government really needs to address,” Meili said.

Meili said the child welfare system is broken and has been for many years.

“We know that we have too many kids in care, too many kids that are separated from their families, without families getting the support to keep children where they should be, which is in their own community in their own families.”

He said the province needs to review and fix the system.

Health Minister Jim Reiter acknowledged that wait times in places like Saskatoon are very high. At one point as high as two years, but Reiter said the province has been working on that and now it’s down to 12 or 13 months.

Reiter said the province made a big increase in mental health and addictions spending in the spring budget, and that some of that money will go to putting more boots on the ground in places like the north where they’re badly needed.

Minister of Social Services Paul Merriman thanked O’Soup for his work, saying the advocate is supposed to show the government the cracks in the system and the government will hopefully fill them in.

Referencing the problems the ministry faces with child welfare, Merriman said the ministry wants to make sure it’s doing the best it can but every year the cases they see are more and more complex.

“So each year we’re trying to adapt to a changing demographic within the clients that we are receiving. So, it’s not a status quo where it’s a straight line on social services issues,” he said. “So we want to make sure that we’re adapting as fast as we possibly can to the emerging needs that our clients are presenting us with, and we want to make sure that we assist them in any way possible.”