Ontario failing to provide adequate mental health services for youth and children, auditor general says

Ontario is failing to provide adequate mental health services for youth and children, according to the province's auditor general.

In one of two reports released by the auditor general Monday, Shelley Spence found children and youth in Ontario are at risk of not being able to access the mental health services in their communities when they need them. 

"As one in five children and youth in Ontario will experience mental health challenges in their lifetimes, the Province needs to ensure young people and their families have timely access to the services and supports that government-funded agencies provide to help them through difficult times," Spence said in a release Monday.

Supports for children with mental health needs are inadequate in more than half of the province's 33 service areas, Spence said in the report.

Only 13 service areas provide live-in treatment for those with the most severe needs, the report found, and average wait times for that type of treatment in 2023-2024 was 105 days. That's up from 94 days the year before.

Of the youth mental health agencies surveyed for the report, 70 per cent said services do not meet the needs of youth "with concurrent mental health and addictions disorders," and 66 per cent said there aren't enough services for youth transitioning into adulthood.

Additionally, access to a secure treatment program — for children and youth at risk of harming themselves or others — is only provided by three agencies, all located in the Greater Toronto Area and eastern Ontario, the report found.

"Children and youth in other regions would need to be significantly distanced from their families to receive these services," Spence said in the report.

Oversight of children's mental health services was transferred from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services to the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2018. The auditor general's audit found that the government department did not always provide youth mental health services "in an evidence-based, timely, equitable and co-ordinated manner."

There were funding gaps for services in some parts of the province, the report found, but funding surpluses in others. Surpluses totalled $66 million across the province, and the report found more than $64 million have yet to be collected. The report put part of the blame on spotty data collection by MOH.

MOH also lacks a strategy to address staffing shortages, which the ministry acknowledged will lead to increases in hospitalizations, emergency room visits and wait times, the report found.

The province spends roughly $530 million annually on funding for the agencies that provide mental health services for youth and children.

The report provided 22 recommendations to MOH, which Spence said have all been accepted by the government.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones told CBC Toronto the government is committed to improving access to services.