The Children’s Health Policy Centre has taken on a new research project to comprehensively estimate children’s mental health needs in BC and recommend how they can be met. The BC Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) has requested this effort, to inform new services for children’s mental health.

This project will inform needs-based planning by:

• Reviewing the latest epidemiological data on the prevalence of the 10 most common childhood mental disorders
• Summarizing the best evidence on exemplary prevention and treatment interventions for young people
• Examining public datasets that can be used to track children’s mental health outcomes going forward, and
• Synthesizing prevalence, intervention and public data evidence to suggest a comprehensive plan for BC

Led by BC MCFD’s Child and Youth Mental Health Policy Branch, a cross-governmental policy advisory group for the project includes senior representatives from the:
• BC Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions (co-sponsor)
• BC Ministry of Health
• BC Ministry of Education
• First Nations Health Authority, and
• Métis Nation of BC
Other policy collaborators are also being consulted as needed.

The CHPC team is being led by Charlotte Waddell, Christine Schwartz and Nicole Catherine — together with Jen Barican, Donna Yung and Yufei Zheng. Additional scientific collaborators include Kathy Georgiades from McMaster University and Bohdan Nosyk and Emanuel Krebs from Simon Fraser University.

This project is being conducted from 2019 through 2021.