Kootenay Boundary

The Youth Assertive Outreach Mental Health Team provides counselling support to youth who may be disconnected from family, friends and community supports and often experience marginalization.

They are a specialized team who supports youth up to 18 years of age where attempts to engage with mainstream mental health services have not been successful. The Outreach team also offers specific supports for Indigenous youth and strives to provide culturally relevant and supportive wellness counselling within a relational, outreach approach. The team includes two community-based clinician positions who provide mental health supports out of two sites including Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA) and South Vancouver Youth Resource Centre. They help by providing:

This is a partnership between Vancouver Coastal Health and the Vancouver Police Department, and clients are seen by a team made up of one nurse and one VPD officer.

Supports include trauma-informed individual counselling, referral to group counselling, psychiatric assessment and follow-up, linking youth to community-based supports to enhance their support network, advocacy and planning for youth transitioning out of youth services and/or foster care, as well as support to others within their circle of care including family and community.
Referral: Referrals accepted from VPD and ED (SPH and VGH). This service can be accessed with a referral through the Access and Assessment Centre (AAC).