Grant: Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) program

Many youth, young adults and families in Canada face challenges when trying to access mental health and substance use services. These services can be challenging to navigate, involve lengthy wait times, and may not adequately meet the needs of youth and families. These problems are even more serious for young people who experience racism, poverty, disability, or social exclusion. This project will work directly with youth and families to create new tools for measuring access to care. These tools, called indicators, will reflect what matters most to young people when they seek support. Instead of relying solely on existing system priorities, this project will focus on youth-identified priorities, such as feeling welcome, being understood, and receiving timely and appropriate help. Indicators will be developed through co-design workshops with youth and families from diverse backgrounds and tested in realworld youth service settings across Ontario. The project will ensure that the indicators are applicable across various types of communities, including rural, Indigenous, Francophone, and gender-diverse populations. It will also create training resources and data collection tools so the indicators can be used in other provinces and territories. By partnering with national organizations and using existing data systems, the project will support long-term improvements in youth mental health services. It will give service providers and policymakers better information to improve access, while centring the voices of youth and families in defining what counts as quality care.