Frequently Asked Questions: Child and Youth Mental Health and Wellness Services

Mental health and wellness services are available for Northwest Territories (NWT) children, youth and families.

• Call or visit your local Community Counselling Program. They can recommend community wellness programs, provide information on eMental health apps and helplines, and have Child and Youth Counsellors who provide one-on-one therapy. 
• Your school can also provide mental health and wellness supports. Every school and region is unique, so check with a teacher or your principal about what services are available.

For other free and confidential support 24/7 in the NWT, call:

• 8-1-1 or 1-844-259-1793
• Kids Help Phone - 1-800-668-6868 or text 686868 for free 

You can find more supports by visiting: https://www.gov.nt.ca/wellness

School-based mental health providers

The delivery of mental health and wellness services may look different in each region. Each education body receives funding to hire its own mental health providers and decide how services will be delivered in their regions, with a focus on prevention and intervention services.

Prevention and intervention services promote resilience and help reduce students and youths’ exposure to risk factors. Many of these services aim to promote positive mental health and wellness in students, and provide them with tools and strategies to prevent significant mental health concerns. This includes self-help tools, workshops, and class presentations on things like anger management and dealing with anxiety.

Mental health services based in schools can be localized and unique to the specific needs of a region and community. They can also include Indigenous teachings and practices rooted in the land, language, culture and spirituality of the community. A mental health provider based in a school is part of that unique community and can form relationships with the student population as a whole. 

Schools will likely use their School-based Support Team to identify students at risk and refer them to the school-based mental health provider; students and parents can also self-refer as needed.

Northwest Territories (NWT) Child and Youth Counselling (CYC) services provided mental health and wellness supports to students, as well as school-aged youth and their families, within schools and communities.

The initiative was launched in the 2018-19 school year and rolled out over four years to include all NWT schools. Through the initiative, child and youth clinical counsellors hired by the NWT health and social services authorities were placed in NWT schools and communities that had more than 75 students (37 schools), and a contracted travelling mental health support team provided service to schools with fewer than 75 students (12 schools).

Support during summer and school breaks

Depending on the region, school-based mental health services may be limited or unavailable during the summer months or when school is not in session. However, schools will still provide students and families with information about accessing mental health services during that time. Counselling Services offered through the Community Counselling program will continue to be available year-round.

Health-based providers

Health and social services authorities can support youth with clinical counselling needs, including helping families navigate services, such as psychiatry, specialized treatment, and addictions supports.

Students and families can access these mental health services through their local Community Counselling Program. The health and social services authorities have a consent process in place that can allow sharing information between school-based mental health providers and Child and Youth Counsellors that follows privacy requirements, such as those under the Health Information Act. This can help support consistency of care and wraparound supports for children and youth.

No referrals are needed, students and parents can self refer. Local health centres and the Community Counselling Program will always have the latest information on what services are available and how to access them.

For information on how to contact the Community Counselling Program in your region please visit: https://www.hss.gov.nt.ca/en/contact/community-counsellor. 

Child and Youth Counselling (CYC) Initiative

Northwest Territories (NWT) Child and Youth Counselling (CYC) services provided mental health and wellness supports to students, as well as school-aged youth and their families, within schools and communities.

The initiative was launched in the 2018-19 school year and rolled out over four years to include all NWT schools. Through the initiative, child and youth clinical counsellors hired by the NWT health and social services authorities were placed in NWT schools and communities that had more than 75 students (37 schools), and a contracted travelling mental health support team provided service to schools with fewer than 75 students (12 schools).

In an effort to improve these supports for students, youth and families, changes to how CYC services are funded and delivered took place in the 2023-24 school year. Education bodies now receive approximately 55% of funding for these services so they can provide direct mental health supports for children and youth in schools, particularly for prevention and intervention services. The NWT health and social services authorities retain approximately 45% of funding to provide clinical counselling services to children and youth through the Community Counselling Program. 

This change allows us to continue with a team approach to mental health and wellness both through the education and health systems that will provide wraparound supports to children and youth.

Child and Youth Counsellors are still available through your local Community Counselling Program. While this change resulted in less clinical counsellors and a decreased capacity to deliver these services within the Health and Social Services system, this will be offset by an increase in prevention and early intervention mental health supports for children and youth in schools. 

Evaluation of CYC services

The GNWT launched an evaluation of the CYC initiative in September 2022 to determine how effective CYC services are and how its implementation in all NWT schools and communities has been for students, youth and families.

Information about the program was collected through a document review, analysis of administrative data, focus groups, interviews, and written submissions provided by 250 individuals, including feedback gathered from students, youth and their families, and other program partners and stakeholders, about how the CYC initiative has worked for them and if there are ways to improve it. 

The GNWT hired an independent third-party contractor, DPRA Canada Inc., to lead the evaluation. DPRA’s final report found that the CYC Initiative was in large part working for children and youth in the NWT and offered 42 recommendations to improve the services.

• Read the report from the independent evaluation of the CYC program
• Read the GNWT’s response to the 42 recommendations