Tele-Mental Health Service

Program Description

The Tele-Mental Health Service (TMHS), provides virtual mental health consultations for children and youth in rural, remote, and underserved communities across Ontario.

TMHS uses secure videoconferencing to connect children, youth, and families with specialized child psychiatrists and licensed allied mental health professionals, providing consultations close to home. Services are culturally sensitive and inclusive, supporting First Nations, Métis, Inuit, urban Indigenous, and francophone communities.

The program also provides professional-to-professional consultations, team-based program consultations, and education sessions to build the capacity of local agencies and mental health providers.

Program Goals

• Increase access to specialized child and youth mental health services in rural, remote, and underserved communities;
• Reduce wait times for child psychiatry consultations;
• Provide culturally appropriate care for Indigenous and francophone children, youth, and their families;
• Offer direct clinical consultations for assessment, diagnostic clarification, treatment planning, and medication review;
• Support community-based providers through professional-to-professional consultation, team-based guidance, and education sessions; and
• Build capacity in local agencies to better serve children and youth with mental health needs.

Eligibility Criteria

• Children and youth aged 0 to 17, presenting with mental health concerns;
• Must have a case manager present during the consultation;
• Service is available to publicly funded child and youth community service providers working in rural, remote, and underserved areas, including professionals from:
  • • Child and youth mental health agencies;
    • School boards;
    • Hospital outpatient programs;
    • Family health teams;
    • Aboriginal Health Access Centres and Friendship Centres;
    • Youth justice agencies;
    • Child welfare agencies; and
    • Other community-based agencies providing child and youth mental health services.

Exclusionary Criteria

TMHS does not provide services for:

• Custody or access assessments;
• Parenting capacity assessments;
• Youth justice assessments for court purposes; and
• Immediate risk assessment (families should contact their local Emergency Department).

Referral Process

Referrals are made through coordinating agencies dedicated to each service area:

• Woodview is the Service Coordination Agency for service ‘Area 2’ that includes Wellington, Niagara, Haldimand, Norfolk, Brant, Perth, Oxford, Elgin, Chatham-Kent, Lambton, Huron, Bruce and Grey. As a Tele-Mental Health Service Coordination, Woodview is responsible for outreach, partnership development and organizational support.
• All youth who identify as Indigenous can also access TMHS Services through the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre (SOAHAC).