Implemented

Way Forward Commitment:

Some residents in our province face challenges including: insufficient transportation, lack of affordable housing, inadequate access to mental health and addictions services, chronic disease prevention and management support, unemployment and food insecurity. Government will implement client focused interventions to support individuals with complex health and social issues. This initiative will support individuals receiving services from multiple departments, agencies and service providers and will improve program coordination and policy barriers that often lead to fractured and uncoordinated provision of services.

By March 31, 2018, Government will have implemented collaborative and client-focused interventions to improve support to individuals with complex health and social issues.

What We’ve Accomplished:

• The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has implemented a number of actions to improve support to individuals with complex health and social issues and engaged with community partners and individuals with lived experience to explore additional opportunities for improvement in 2018. Examples include:
  • Expanding access to psychiatry services throughout Labrador through locum visits by Eastern Health psychiatrists and telehealth sessions for those in remote communities.
  • Increasing training and awareness with a specific focus on the needs and concerns of LGBTQI2S youth, in partnership with Egale Canada.
  • Establishing a Wait Time Reduction Team to address wait times for access to mental health and addictions services.
  • Providing stable funding for housing support workers through a two-year commitment of funding for 2018-19 and 2019-20.
  • Improving support to community centres by funding two social worker positions to work directly with the five community centres in the St. John’s area.
• Feedback received during the complex needs engagement process confirmed the importance of ongoing initiatives by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Hearing from people with  lived experience and front line staff enriched government’s understanding of the issues and priorities for individuals with complex needs. The main issues raised were in the areas of mental health and addictions, housing and homelessness, communications and privacy, financial concerns, corrections, home and community supports, and transportation.  This information is informing ongoing work across a variety of departments that impacts individuals with complex needs.

News Releases

Provincial Government Invests Funding to Help Prevent and End Homelessness

Provincial Government Meeting Commitment to Support Individuals with Complex Needs