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New Path partners with Child & Youth Advocacy Centre Simcoe Muskoka

June 8, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

A new partnership between New Path Youth & Family Services and the Child & Youth Advocacy Centre Simcoe Muskoka (CYACSM) aims to make the transition to child and youth mental health services more accessible for those who have experienced physical or sexual abuse.

This partnership will see CYACSM staff supporting children and youth at New Path offices across Simcoe County, including Alliston, creating more timely and easier transitions to mental health services.

“You can certainly imagine how frightening it can be for a child or youth to have the courage to disclose that they have been physically or sexually abused,” said Dawn MacDonald, executive director of CYACSM. “Each situation can be extremely frightening and intimidating, and in these circumstances every child deserves a safe, trauma-informed space to tell their story. It’s through our new partnership with New Path that our team of multi-disciplinary partners can conduct forensic interviews across the broader region of Simcoe Muskoka and bring the supportive care of our Child & Youth Advocates closer to home for many families. We know the mental health effects of abuse on children and youth are significant and require ongoing support through prevention education, early interventions, therapy, and timely system navigation; our community partners like New Path make it possible for us to ensure this happens.”

New Path is the lead agency for child and youth mental health in Simcoe County, with the goal of ensuring that all children, youth, and families receive timely transitions to mental health services when and where they need them. This partnership helps to ensure access to crucial mental health support for vulnerable children and youth in the community.

“This is a win-win and a wonderful partnership that has been made possible because of our hybrid working model at New Path, which leaves some of our offices available to be used by our partners, like the Child & Youth Advocacy Centre,” said Jim Harris, CEO, New Path Youth and Family Services. “This creative use of space enables us to support the critical work of the Child & Youth Advocacy Centre and enhance those warm hand offs we always strive to make, meaning that children and youth that have experienced abuse will be referred seamlessly and more comfortably to mental health services at New Path. We are committed to working in collaboration with partners that support children and youth and sharing resources, which is simply the right thing to do.”

The Child & Youth Advocacy Centre Simcoe Muskoka supports children, youth, and families through the difficult and frightening process of abuse investigations.

The Child and Youth Advocacy Centre provides individualized coordination of the forensic interview, forensic interview support, follow-up and ongoing support with system navigation, needs assessments, key community and service referrals, education and connection to cultural resources.

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