Innovation Initiatives

Innovation Initiatives is sponsored by Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions (Ontario). This program supports projects that address barriers to mental health, substance use, and addictions care for young people and families in Ontario.

2025 Innovation Initiatives | Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions 2025 Innovation Initiatives 2025 Innovation Initiatives For the 2025 Innovation Initiative grant cycle, we invited proposals focused on designing, implementing, and evaluating culturally responsive programs to advance equity and inclusivity in the child and youth mental health sector.

Five projects were selected to receive funding to address systemic inequities and better support the mental health and well-being of children, young people, and families across Ontario.

Children's Centre Thunder Bay Family therapy for Two-Spirit, trans, and gender diverse young people (2STGD) Young people in the 2STGD community in Thunder Bay emphasized that family acceptance is very important to them, but many families struggle to provide this support. They felt that family therapy could have helped with family acceptance but the services available were hard to access and did not meet their needs.

Young people also shared that they often feel unsupported at home, in school, in mental health services, and in cultural spaces, which affects their mental health and increases their risk of housing instability and homelessness. CCTB plans to pilot a family therapy model tailored to the needs of 2STGD young people, addressing personal, family, social, and medical needs of the trans experience.

The model is designed to support young people at high risk of housing instability and homelessness while also helping parents who struggle with their child’s identity. The pilot will evaluate the model's effectiveness and strengthen partnerships across systems (e.g., medical, educational, child welfare, cultural leaders) to improve coordination of care and identify gaps.

Using the Cultural Adaptation Model, CCTB will gather ongoing community feedback to ensure the model remains responsive. Grounded in community-identified priorities, this pilot fosters collaboration by ensuring partners are engaged in its success, making the project sustainable and adaptable over time.

Working with different systems will help identify families in need, ensure ongoing care and support for the mental health needs of 2STGD young people while also addressing housing instability and homelessness. The focus on equity and culturally safer spaces ensures that support is accessible and affirming for 2STGD young people. Learn more about Children’s Centre Thunder Bay here .

Dnaagdawenmag Binnoojiiyag Child & Family Services Returning to play: Building connections between Indigenous parents and their children In a past project adapting the Circle of Security Parenting (COSP) program for Indigenous families, the "Being With" module was the most emotionally challenging for parents. Many parents had trouble supporting their children’s emotions due to their own unresolved childhood experiences.

Harmful government policies that removed Indigenous children from their families disrupted the ability to form secure bonds, often leaving survivors without nurturing caregivers. As a result, this intergenerational trauma can make it difficult for survivors to engage, bond, and play with their children.

The project will train staff in Foundation Theraplay to better support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis families in building trust, self-esteem, and joyful connection with their children. Staff will also co-develop culturally meaningful parenting resources using the medicine wheel, seven grandfather teachings, and Indigenous artwork.

By combining clinical expertise from New Path with the cultural knowledge of Dnaagdawenmag Binnoojiiyag, the project aims to promote healing, resilience, and joy in daily family life. This project responds directly to what Indigenous parents and caregivers have asked for after completing the Circle of Security program. This project is unique in bringing together the children's mental health and child welfare sectors in our service area.

By strengthening parent-child relationships, this project aims to reduce the number of children entering care and contribute to long-term change in the child welfare system. Learn more about Dnaagdawenmag Binnoojiiyag here .

Kinark Child and Family Services Culturally adapted intensive CBT (i-CBT) Asian young people with anxiety in York Region Asian young people in the York Region often face challenges in getting mental health support, even though they make up nearly half (45. 4%) of the local population. Many delay seeking help until their symptoms are severe due to the stigma, racism, and cultural differences around mental health.

These barriers, combined with long wait times and a lack of culturally relevant services, lead to major gaps in care for this vulnerable population, particularly since the COVID-19 global pandemic. Kinark Child and Family Services, in partnership with Hong Fook Mental Health Association, will develop and test a short-term, culturally-adapted, intensive-cognitive behavioral therapy (i-CBT) day camp for Asian youth.

The program will use culturally relevant examples and values, based on proven methods for adapting CBT to non-Western cultures. The program will be offered four hours a day for five consecutive days with the goal to make treatment more accessible while offering intensive support over a short period of time. This new model is expected to improve access to mental health care and lower anxiety symptoms for Asian youth.

This model will also help guide future culturally-adapted treatments across Ontario. Through three cycles of testing and refining, the team will create a practical manual and share findings through reports, presentations, and publications. This project addresses critical gaps in service delivery, helps to build skills across the mental health sector, and supports more inclusive and effective care for Asian young people.

Learn more about Kinark Child and Family services here . Learn more about Hong Fook Mental Health Association here . TAIBU Community Health Centre & The Sankofa Psychotherapy & Consultancy Group The Sankofa for TAIBU project (STP) There is a lack of sustainable, culturally relevant mental health services for Black communities in Canada.

Systemic barriers like anti-Black racism affect health, jobs, education, and safety, making it difficult for Black children and families to access mental health support that reflects their lived experiences. As a result, many disengage from support systems leading to harmful social, emotional, and behavioral patterns thus creating worsening long-term outcomes.

The Sankofa for TAIBU Project (STP) will address mental health challenges like substance use, mental wellness concerns, family breakdown, and the criminalization of young people. Using varying Afro-Centered frameworks and an intergenerational model the hope is to build bridges of communal growth and reduce recidivism.

This pilot project will provide culturally responsive interventions such as healing circles, Afro-Centered narrative therapy, educational workshops, storytelling, and individual/group psychotherapy to build cultural identity/pride and strengthen family connections. Based on the "Each One, Teach One" model, local ambassadors will share knowledge across generations interwoven within community forums and during the workshop cycles.

The aim is to build sustainable wellness tools, healing and growth that bridge cultural and generational gaps. Community input and engagement will guide every stage of this project, from design to implementation, making sure it meets the changing needs of the communities.

By combining culturally informed practices, active community participation, and intergenerational support, the STP vision hopes to empower participants as leaders and co-creators. This approach will not only strengthen the community but also promote long-term sustainability and resilience that can inspire similar programs across Ontario. Learn more about TAIBU Community Health Centre here .

Learn more about the Sankofa Psychotherapy & Consultancy Group here . Trillium Health Partners (THP) Culturally responsive urgent mental health services for Black and South Asian young people in Mississauga. As Canada’s largest hospital system and the only acute care mental health provider in Mississauga, Trillium Health Partners (THP) has seen a 65% rise in demand for its services.

To meet this need, THP launched the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Urgent Response Service (CA-MHURS) in February 2024. Now that the clinic has completed its first year of operation, it has identified emphasizing culturally responsive care for the region’s diverse Black and South Asian populations as a critical next step.

This initiative aims to reduce barriers for Black young people, who often first access mental health care through the justice system or emergency rooms, where they often receive lower-quality and uncoordinated care that reinforces systemic racism and distrust.

For CA-MHURS, the goal is to create a Cultural Community Co-Design Board (CCC-DB) made up of adults and young people from two community partner organizations, Roots Community Services, and Punjabi Community Health Services to co-design and guide all aspects of the project. Working closely with THP, the CCC-DB will support efforts to improve cultural responsiveness, evaluation, and the sharing of knowledge.

The project also aims to make culturally appropriate, evidence-based care more accessible in the community. To build trust and foster meaningful engagement, THP will include culturally specific, arts-based activities throughout the project.

CA-MHURS is a new approach to mental health care that aims to prevent symptoms from getting worse and reduce the need for emergency visits or hospital stays, which can be stressful for children and families. By working with diverse community members to design the program, engagement will be improved, and this approach will demonstrate how co-design can lead to more culturally responsive mental health care.

Since THP supports many equity-deserving communities, this project will help to better serve South Asian and Black families in Mississauga. A rapid evaluation process will support ongoing learning and improvement throughout the project. Learn more about the Trillium Health Partners here .