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Back to SearchOttawa, May 14, 2021 — Today, the Youth Services Bureau (YSB), CHEO, and Le CAP, three partners of the Kids Come First Health Team, announce the launch of a new program called Step Up Step Down — a bilingual live-in-treatment program for youth aged 12 to 17 with complex mental health needs. Step Up Step Down addresses a service gap between hospitalization and community care.
“Step Up Step Down is all about working to create better, faster access to the right care at the right time for youth and families,” said Joanne Lowe, Executive Director of YSB and VP of Mental Health and Addictions at CHEO. “For youth with complex mental health needs, we want to give them and their families an option other than hospitalization.”
The focus of the program is to support youth in the transition home from an inpatient hospital stay (step down) and from community based support to manage a deterioration in mental health which, without intervention, will likely lead to an inpatient hospital admission or readmission (step up).The program provides short-term (up to 30 days) stabilization and intensive individualized treatment during the youth’s stay with an emphasis on youth and family recovery and skill building that will lead to a successful return home. CHEO inpatient services have been operating at maximum capacity for several years now.
“We know that there is immense pressure on youth and families who are dealing with ongoing mental health crises,” said Guy Bouchard, Executive Director, Le CAP. “Accessing these services is even more difficult for Francophone clients. This program will begin to address these needs.”
Step Up Step Down exemplifies strong partnership and collaboration within the Kids Come First Health Team, of which all three organizations are members, working to create better, faster access to the right care at the right time for children and youth. The program is staffed by a multi-disciplinary team that includes youth workers, a psychotherapist, a teacher, an occupational therapist, psychiatric nurses, psychologist, psychiatrist, a program coordinator and clinical director.
Step Up Step Down is funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health, through in-kind and collaborative partnerships with other services, and through generous private donations through the YSB Foundation. The creation of Step Up Step Down is part of a strategy for child and youth mental health, for which YSB is the lead agency in Ottawa.
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Media contact:
Suzanne Fraser, Youth Services Bureau
sfraser@ysb.ca, 613-277-7103
About the Youth Services Bureau
YSB is one of the largest and most comprehensive non-profit agencies serving youth in Ottawa. It offers more than 30 programs and serves 3,000 youth and families every month in the areas of youth engagement, housing and homelessness, mental health, youth justice and employment.
About CHEO
Based in Canada’s capital, CHEO is a globally renowned health institution with a mission to provide exceptional care and support to children, youth and their families. Opening our doors in 1974, we offer a full range of specialized pediatric care and services to children from eastern and northern Ontario, western Quebec and Nunavut. Our site is home to a hospital, a children’s treatment centre, a school, a research institute, and is affiliated with the University of Ottawa as an academic health science centre. Named Canada’s best health-care employer by Forbes in 2024, we are home to more than 6,500 staff, clinicians, scientists and researchers, as well as volunteers – all of whom work together to help children and youth achieve their best lives.
About Le CAP
Le CAP– Centre d’appui et de prévention- provides Ontario Francophones — children, youth and adults — with improved access to a continuum of mental health, addiction, and concurrent disorders services and to educational centers.
Le CAP, the union of two pillars: Le Centre Psychosocial and Maison Fraternité; have been working for the well-being of the Ontario community for 80 years. Across the province, Le CAP is now the Francophone reference for thousands of families, people in crisis and youth in difficulty.