Connect For Kids Information for North Shore Families

The Takaya Family Program is a free learning program for Tsleil Waututh, Squamish and other First Nations families with children from birth to six years old. Everyone will enjoy Learning Together Through Play (LTTP), song and story time, a healthy lunch and Maplewood Farm visits.

Adult time (with child minding) in the afternoon includes life skills development, crafting and discussions.

Bring appropriate clothing for outdoor play in all weather conditions.

The Takaya Family Program is a free learning program for Tsleil Waututh, Squamish and other First Nations families with children from birth to six years old. Everyone will enjoy Learning Together Through Play (LTTP), song and story time, a healthy lunch and Maplewood Farm visits.

Adult time (with child minding) in the afternoon includes life skills development, crafting and discussions.

Bring appropriate clothing for outdoor play in all weather conditions.

The Supported Child Development Program (SCD) assists families of children who require additional support to access inclusive child care programs. Working with daycares, preschools, family daycares and out of school care programs, we provide consultation services and extra staffing assistance to ensure inclusive practices for children who have a demonstrated need for extra support.
SCD provides support for child care staff, families and their children, up to 12 years of age, in licensed daycare, preschool or out of school care programs. Youth, 13 to 19 years of age are considered on an individual basis.

Once a family has been referred to our program and is deemed eligible for services, we are able to provide “child specific’ information and support.

The extra support required might be any of the following:

Information about a child’s specific needs

Occasional or regular visits by the Supported Child Development Consultant to the program

Short term additional program support

Child specific and community based training for families, childcare staff and community professionals.

Ongoing additional program support (extra staffing may be required if the current staff:child ration is not adequate to successfully include a specific child/ren in a program)

Observation services to help determine eligibility for the Supported Child Development Program

Toy Lending Library and resources

The Infant Development Program (IDP) provides home based early intervention services to families with children from birth to three years of age who are experiencing delays in their development, or who are at risk for developmental delay.
Home visits are made on a regular basis by professional staff to assist the family in planning learning activities and to utilize appropriate community resources. Opportunities for parents to meet and support each other are provided through regular drop-in groups and classes organized on topics of interest to families.

Resource library materials of books and toys are also available for loan to families. Referrals can be made directly to the IDP. The North Shore Infant Development Program strives to provide services in a timely fashion, but occasionally the demand for our services exceeds the capacity for us to do this. If this happens, your child may be placed on a waitlist for service.

Vancouver Coastal Health’s Early Childhood Speech-Language Pathologists are committed to making sure children aged 0-5 years reach their full speech, language, and communication potential. Speech-language pathologists evaluate how well a child is talking and listening. They looks at: pronunciation, how well the tongue and lips move, how children understand and use language, and if there any voice, hearing, or stuttering problems.

BC Centre for Ability staff provide home and community based, family centred services to families with infants and young children who have physical and/or developmental challenges. Available services include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy and social work support, delivered through individual sessions, groups and parent education workshops.

Serving the Lower Mainland, posAbilities assists persons with developmental disabilities to lead meaningful and healthy lives by partnering with the community to provide a comprehensive range of person-centred services for individuals and the families who care for them.

Behaviour Consultation – Laurel Behaviour Support Services [LBSS] provides Early Intensive Behaviour Intervention (EIBI), behaviour consultation to school-aged children and youth, and adult services to individuals who have an autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability. Consultants use the science of applied behaviour analysis to address challenging behaviours and to teach adaptive skills that will produce enduring changes in their quality of life. Together with families, they strive to increase a person’s independence across a variety of settings – home, school and community.

posAbilities also offers Employment Services for those on the Autism spectrum and with development disabilities.

Check their website for more information!

The North Shore Disability Resource Centre (NSDRC) was established in 1975 by a group of parents, professionals and advocates. This group wanted to create services to ensure that people with disabilities could live comfortably in their communities. Since that time, the NSDRC has continued to expand both its mandate and services. We continue to work to ensure that people with disabilities have the opportunity to participate actively as contributing members of society. We are committed to working toward a community that is free of physical, financial, and attitudinal barriers.

The North Shore Disability Resource Centre directly serves over 450 individuals through our residential and community based programs. Our Information and Advocacy Program recorded over 1,400 contacts from people with disabilities, their families, friends and networks on the North Shore. We make every effort to ensure that their voices are heard, and that they are supported to participate in their community as fully and independently as possible.

Counselling services for children and youth, ages 2-19, for a range of issues including anxiety, depression, sexual abuse, bullying, school stress, coming out, suicidal thoughts, self-injury, eating disorders, dating violence, self-esteem and others. The program also works with children and youth who are being impacted by their parent’s separation, divorce, relationship abuse or addictions.

Length of service is based on the specific needs and issues presented. A sliding scale is offered to assist individuals who cannot pay for a full hour fee (scale of $20-$110). There is no cost for services for children and adolescents who have been sexually abused or sexually assaulted as those services are fully subsidized by the Ministry for Children and Family Development.

Counselling services are available in several languages.

Jessie’s Legacy, a program of Family Services of the North Shore, provides eating disorders prevention education, resources and support for BC children, youth, families, educators and professionals.
Our name honours Jessie Alexander, a young North Shore woman who died of complications from a long standing eating disorder. It was Jessie’s hope, upon her recovery, to help others suffering from disordered eating and depression. While Jessie was never able to realize her dream, Family Services of the North Shore has ensured that the Provincial eating disorders prevention has become Jessie’s Legacy.

Jessie’s Legacy services and resources are primarily web-based. In addition, Jessie’s Legacy provides media watch (through social media), online and telephone support, psycho-education groups as well as a Speakers Bureau.

Jessie’s Legacy is also the lead for the Provincial Eating Disorders Awareness Campaign (PEDAW) a province wide effort to raise awareness around prevention, early intervention and treatment of eating disorders as well as media literacy, resiliency, healthy body image and self esteem. PEDAW is launched the first week of February with various initiatives taking place year round.

Our programs serve diverse populations, including young children, children in school and young adults. Some services are provided in languages other than English. Mental Health teams may include nurses, counsellors, occupational therapists, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, rehabilitation therapists, social workers and support staff. Each team is unique, with the mix of staff and services reflecting the needs of each community and population.
Our mental health programs offer a range of services including:

Assessment
Treatment
Consultation
Therapy (individual, group, and family therapy)
Psycho-pharmacological treatment, day programs and parent education.

Our services are available to children and youth who live in the areas served by Vancouver Coastal Health.

Age ranges may vary by program.

Is there any cost for these services?
These services are free-of-charge.

In North Vancouver and West Vancouver
Intake is done in person at the Ministry for Children and Family office at 301-224 West Esplanade, North Vancouver BC, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Family Preservation Programs are designed to strengthen and preserve families where there is a risk of family breakdown and to promote family reunification when breakdown has already occurred.
These services are for North Shore families with children under the age of 19 and where the family is at risk of family breakdown or is seeking to re-unite. Families are referred by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Services include:

Family counselling
Therapeutic interventions with individuals, couples and families

Intervention with children and youth

Family violence intervention

Parent training and education

Supervised family access visits

Our Family Counsellors are available to respond to crises and other family needs, provide therapeutic and educational interventions, and are familiar with a wide range of additional professional and community-based resources if necessary.

Family support is a flexible program that helps parents, children, and blended families improve communication, manage conflict, and cope with stress. Family support Workers meet with families with children under 19 years of age for 8 to 12 weeks and offer a range of services that can be offered in the family home or in the community.
These services include individual and group support, parenting education and help accessing services for mental health and drug and alcohol issues. Families, who can self-refer or be referred by other professionals, will be connected to a Family Support Worker as soon as possible (usually within 2-4 weeks).

As part of the Family Support Program, Hollyburn offers Parent Education courses to meet parenting needs. These include:

The Incredible Years – for families with children under 8
A Parent’s Influence – for families with children up to 12
Parenting Teens – for families with teens and pre-teens

Mind Your Mind is a community for younger people who are learning to take charge of their mental health. You can read stories and interviews, learn more about mental health, check out a toolbox of skills and find resources.

These resources are designed to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and increase access and use of community support, both professional and peer-based.

Through the use of active engagement, best practice and technology, mindyourmind inspires youth to reach out, get help and give help.

They aim to:
•provide a platform for youth, their stories, and their point of view
•ask for youth input and make changes as necessary
•go where youth are– they don’t expect to be a destination
•use art, music, video and other creative modalities to engage youth
•strengthen youth-adult partnerships

Family Smart’s mandate is to support and empower families and work collaboratively with professionals and systems in understanding and meeting the mental health needs of families.

Family Smart….
◦promotes child and youth mental health
◦provides families with information and skills on how to manage their child’s worries and anxiety
◦shares information on what services or supports are available for families in child & youth
◦mental health
◦provides information to professionals on topics related to child and youth mental health from a parent’s perspective
◦partners with others in creating information and resources that promote awareness and collaboration in child and youth mental health
◦provides information to families that will enable them to know, and seek out, who does what and where to look for services and resources
◦shares our own experiences and knowledge with others to exchange strengths and knowledge
◦promotes prevention, early identification, and appropriate interventions.

The Kelty Dennehy Mental Health Resource Centre is located in the Robert and Greta Ho Centre for Psychiatry and Education on the Lions Gate Hospital campus and operated by The Canadian Mental Health Association, North and West Vancouver Branch. The resource centre is a place where family, friends and those affected by mental health challenges can feel comfortable to seek support and get trusted information. By providing the resources, the centre is integral to developing community and addressing barriers and stigma surrounding mental health issues. The centre offers educational opportunities and on-the-ground support and problem solving provided by people with lived-experience.

The Adolescent & Children’s Empowerment Program provides services for children between 3 & 18 years of age who have witnessed or experienced abuse, threats or violence in the home. The ACE program is open to children who reside on the North Shore. The ACE program provides assessments, referrals and age appropriate support groups for children and adolescents, individual counselling for children & adolescents, support to parents, group and individual counselling for parents (as time permits) and prevention activities for schools. Through the ACE Program, young people are provided services in a safe, supportive environment where they can express and explore their feelings through art, play and discussion. Participants share with their peers, learn new coping strategies and are empowered through their experiences.