Mental Health Capacity Building: Successful Families-Successful Kids
Successful Families-Successful kids is one project in the Mental Health Capacity Building (MHCB) in Schools initiative, serving over 100,000 students province-wide. This initiative is led by Alberta Health Services - Mental Health and Addiction in partnership with Alberta Education, continuing care zones, and other partners and community agencies, with funding from Alberta Health and Wellness.
The MHCB initiative is based on the belief that mental and emotional well-being can be developed, nurtured and supported through promotion and prevention efforts. When individuals, communities and agencies work together to promote mental and emotional well-being in whole populations of children, youth, and families, we can enhance mental health and decrease addiction as well as the negative impacts of mental illness.
The MHCB initiative objectives aligned under the Integrated Tier Model of Care are as follows:
- To promote positive mental health in children, youth, families and communities by raising awareness, increasing knowledge, building personal skills (such as self-care and self-regulation techniques), developing interpersonal skills and fostering positive community norms (such as support networks, physical and psychological safety).
- To intervene early by facilitating access to early intervention and treatment services for children, youth, parents and/or caregivers who are at greatest risk of (or are currently
- experiencing) addiction and mental health issues. (This includes the use of screening as indicated by AHS).
- Improve knowledge of and access to effective and innovative services across the mental health continuum through community collaborative networks with schools, health supports, and community agencies to coordinate and streamline existing services (while identifying and advocating for unmet needs).
The MHCB project has been operating in Northern Lights Public Schools since 2007 and now provides service to all schools in the division.