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Tina Peplinskie

The Daily Observer
Date Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010
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Young people and their families dealing with a mental health crisis will have around-the-clock, permanent access to professional services.

After a 2.5-year pilot, the Child, Youth, and Family Crisis Line for Eastern Ontario was officially launched Wednesday afternoon at the Phoenix Centre for Children and Families, one of nine partners in the integrated crisis response service network.

During the pilot, only 85 of the 10,500 calls came from residents of Renfrew County. Phoenix Centre executive director Greg Lubimiv hopes more area residents will take advantage of the service now that all of the bugs have been worked out of the system.

"This is the Cadillac service to assist families because crises don't happen Tuesday at noon, it's usually Saturday at midnight," he said. "This will fill a huge gap that has existed and we should all be proud."

"We want to let everyone know we are ready to roll," Mr. Lubimiv said.

"This really is a Cadillac and we should all be proud of the service," he said.

Because a crisis rarely happens during regular business hours, the crisis line will be answered whenever the Phoenix Centre is closed, including after hours and on holidays.

The phones will be answered by trained crisis professionals who will work through the situation with the person on the phone and provide an appropriate, helpful response, explained Kim Fenn, assistant director of the Integrated Crisis Services of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa, who was also on hand for the launch.

The responders and staff of the partner facilities will also have access to a database containing information about clients and people accessing the crisis line service. If the person calling is a client, the system will include notes on the history of the case and the starting point will be different than a cold call, she said.

"This line will allow people to call one place, let us do the running around and figure out who else to call," Ms. Fenn said.

Part of setting up the net-work was ensuring the responders are have a directory of services available in the individual communities so the proper referrals can be made.

She stressed the importance of ensuring the security of the information in the database and noted years were spent finding ways to maintain security and confidentially in the system.

Those experiencing the crisis are even asked if they want to have the information passed on to their worker or another service provider in the community if they are not associated with the Phoenix Centre.

This tracking will eliminate a lot of duplication and the need for people to repeat the details of what they are going through, Mr. Lubimiv said.

Pembroke Mayor Ed Jacyno and Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MP Cheryl Gallant offered their congratulations on the launch. Petawawa Councillor Theresa Sabourin was also on hand, representing the town and the Petawawa Military Family Resource Centre. She encouraged the professionals who will be answering the calls to increase their knowledge of military issues, as military families will be facing challenges as a large number of soldiers from CFB/ASU Petawawa are preparing to deploy overseas in the spring.

For more information about the services visit www.icrs.caor to access the crisis line call 1-877-377-7775.

Tina Peplinskie is a Daily Observer reporter