Yes: weekly group, daily individual & family clients seen. Duration: 1 to 1.5 hours for individual & family, 2 hours for groups. Where: Aurora head office & satellite offices

Yes: Aurora head office held all activities (individual, family, group), smaller offices only do individual & family, Keswick office holds groups

All staff are trained CBT & addictions counsellors, they all use a trauma informed lens for their counselling, they include motivational interviewing & holistic client centred care, staff may come with different academic preparations but all staff are adherent to this model of service/care

All counselling staff rotate through all roles, rotate through groups for parents & groups for youth. Individuals have their own offices and cases. Physicians in on different days of the week if a person needed medication for cravings or withdrawal. Nurse practitioner can prescribe similar to doctor. Peer support workers from same age group.

Yes. However funding for outreach bus is temporary and there is lack of certainty if it will continue.

When fully staffed yes, when some vacancies arose there were some gaps to cover in staffing, waitlist grew for short while until new person started, evening group was paused till a new security guard could be hired.

Yes, very positive feedback, continued participation and referral of clients

All clients enjoyed the group aspect & connecting with peers. Parents appreciated feeling less ioslated by coneccting with others.Commmunity outreach bus program "R.A.M" or Rapid Action Addiction Medicine was great success.

Less compliance amongst youth with workbooks & homework

Main cost is ministry of health funded salaries of the counsellors. Snacks, Accudetox supplies. Workbooks. Transportation. Costs are approximately $650,000/year

In regards to youth, best practice is to have youth friendly workers, employing CBT/DBT addiction informed staff, consult with youth and ask them what they want. To have a multidisciplinary team represented; doctors, nurses, addictions counsellors, and peer support workers. Peer support workers from the same age group are funded by Ontario because it is best practice that those with lived experience have something to offer.

Approximately 60 youth individuals per month, over 8 years

Youth over the age of 12 who live in the York region, who are seeking help either voluntarily on their own, with their families, or mandated by the court system. Seeking individual counselling related to substance use & mental health, ca, be concurrent. Homelessness, legal charges, poly-substance use issues, many have experienced trauma, truancy.

Friends, families, caregivers, peers, educators - all individuals in contact with the client. All individuals who are reached via educational programs in school and in the community ex. teacher in the classroom hearing a presentation, public health nurse from homeless shelter who saw presentation and contacted ASYR for more information.

Yes, extensive community outreach with partners to inform them of their services, at conferences and professional events, booths and tables, pamphlets, educational talks and lectures in the community

Didnt reach all 300, 000 youth in the region, however 100% of those that were referred or reached out via self-refer or community referral were treated. Reached the ones that needed treatment, were able to accept all youth referrals sent and treat them all w short waitlist

The satisfaction surveys at the end of the treatment are available for individuals and their family members and the satisfaction is very high for individual counselling as well as psychoeducational groups. Overall positive.

they feel its so great they want to come and run the groups ( offering staff to come and co-facillitate with us), ex. Public health nurse from youth shelter wanted to know more. Staff: like the youth program very much, staff are always applying for roles in this program, buy treats and snacks for the youth, highly desirable program to work in for the staff.

Community partners: most people want the service to come to them, to come out and deliver it to the most convenient place for youth, so right now trying to go to skateboard park to be where the youth are. Community partners are happy with the program and want MORE of it, sometimes have to examine resrouces and place them strategically – if cant reach all 10 schools try to choose most problematic schools

they feel its so great they want to come and participate in running the groups ( offering staff to come and co-facillitate with us), ex. Public health nurse from youth shelter wanted to know more. Staff: like the youth program very much, staff are always applying for roles in this program, buy treats and snacks for the youth, highly desirable program to work in for the staff.

Through a variety of ways, website, posters at their school, posters in the community ex. Library, doctors officers, informational presentations/talks for ex. At the youth homeless centre, and at professional workshops and conferences for health care professionals who then would refer/pass this information on

~ 60 youths / month x 12 months = 720 (fewer in summer, so ~700/yr). Over the past 8 years = 5600 individuals, not including family members

For the most part yes, 75% of the people who complete the program and have at least one support (counselor, 1 family member, church connection) in their life, they have more sobriety and have better attendance at school and fewer legal charges and more positive family reports

Goal: Harm reduction, school attendance,
increased awareness of harms & effects of substance use,
minimize harm of impaired driving, unsafe practices, maximize learning the skills in life you need to be successful. For parents: gaining knowledge and strategies to better understand & support loved ones.

Short term goals: attendance to the program, completion of program

User surveys demonstrate they have gained more knowledge about substance use and addiction

Yes. Better able to make healthier long term decisions. Not going to jail.
Not being truent.
Not getting sick.
Not dying.
Gain employment.
After program finishes, meeting follow-up after 30days, 60 days.
Those who complete program do better than those who dropped out upon follow up survey.

Ministry of health funded program available to all youth in York region from age 12 -24. The aim of this out-patient program is to increase awareness and promote harm reduction surrounding substance use and mental health. Team of 12 people, counsellors, nurses, doctors, and peer support (other youth who have successfully recovered from significant issues and are there to be a guide post those who have lived life experience)

Clients can refer themselves in on the website
Lots of brochures and pamhplets on different substances

Youth mandated from the court must attend a minimum of 4 education groups and then submit proof of compliance to court