We have one child and youth outreach worker. Her position is split between getting out in the community, doing girls groups and presentations, and also doing in-house, which greatly limits her time. We've had a major influx of children who are in-house. This is a really significant concern for us. I think a lot of us do really well liaising with mental health and addiction services, but as Donna mentioned, the wait-lists are excruciating. You can get in and have a Choice appointment in Nova Scotia, which will basically look at immediate needs, but it can take you 10 months to get in and see a therapist. It is a significant barrier to the healing and the helping. What we know about trauma is that if you support an individual as soon as you possibly can, you can reduce the long-term impacts.
So that's a very good question. It's something we struggle with on a regular basis. It really comes down to having resources to be able to support them and navigate through the provincial health care system.