The BC Government released this news on June 26, 2019:
People experiencing mental health and addictions challenges will soon have better access to the services they need, thanks to a new vision for care outlined in A Pathway to Hope: A roadmap for making mental health and addictions care better for people in British Columbia.
“For too long, little attention was paid to mental health and substance use care by previous governments,” said Premier John Horgan. “A Pathway to Hope lays out our plan to help people now and improve the health and wellness of all British Columbians in the long term. We’re taking a provincewide approach to build a system of care where services are always within reach and people have the supports and opportunities they need.”
A Pathway to Hope lays out government’s 10-year vision for mental health and addictions care that gets people the services they need in order to tackle problems early on and support their well-being. It identifies the priority actions government will take over the next three years to help people immediately and reduce demand on services down the road. The focus is on supporting the wellness of children, youth and young adults, supporting Indigenous-led solutions and improving access and quality of care. The roadmap will also build on the ongoing work to address the overdose crisis by starting to establish improved systems of addictions care.
“There is nothing more pressing than ensuring every young person has the supports they need to not just survive, but thrive,” said Judy Darcy, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “These longstanding problems in mental health and addictions care won’t be fixed overnight. But by starting to move from a crisis-driven system to early intervention and prevention – especially for children and youth – we can help people before their problems become more severe.”