Youth Assertive Outreach Mental Health Team

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If there is a life-threatening safety concern, please call 9-1-1 or go to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital.

Suicide prevention hotline: 1-800-784-2433

BC Crisis Line: 604-310-6789

Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868

Indigenous Crisis and Support Line - KUU-US Crisis Support Line: 1-800-588-8717

Harm reduction: Toward the Heart

Overview
What to expect
How to access
Find this service near you

The Youth Assertive Outreach Mental Health Team provides counselling support with youth who may be disconnected from family, friends and community supports and who often experience marginalization and barriers to accessing services.

Youth supported by this team may be in foster care, living independently, precariously housed, experiencing homelessness or street involvement; they may struggle with substance use as well as mental health and may have a history of traumatic lived experiences.

We are a specialized team that supports youth up to 18 years of age where attempts to engage with mainstream mental health services have not been successful. The Outreach team also offers specific support for Indigenous youth and strives to provide culturally relevant and supportive wellness counselling within a relational, outreach approach. The team also includes two community-based clinician positions who provide mental health support out of two sites including Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA) and South Vancouver Youth Resource Centre.

What to expect

Supports include trauma-informed individual mental health & wellness counselling, referral to group counselling, psychiatric assessment and follow-up, linking youth to community-based supports to enhance their support network, advocacy and planning for youth transitioning out of youth services and/or foster care, as well as support to others within their circle of care.

How to access

Referrals are often made by community partners who are from the youth’s care team. If you are self-referring or you are a concerned parent/caregiver wanting to make a referral, your starting point for accessing mental health support is contacting Child & Youth Mental Health Intakes for children & youth 6 to 18 years of age.

This service is available at