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COVID19 Update: Court case backlog -- clients may experience difficulties contacting local offices and should leave a message with return phone number; VWAP staff will return voicemail as soon as possible

• Provides information and assistance to support participation in the criminal court process
• Services begin once police have laid charges and continue until the court case is over

Offers:

• Case-specific information (court dates, bail conditions)
• Court preparation
• Needs assessment
• Emotional support
• Crisis intervention
• Referrals to community agencies

Vulnerable Victims and Family Fund

Provides financial and court-based supports to enable victims of crime and families of homicide victims to attend court, including:

• Travel arrangements and expenses
• Language interpretation
• Real-time captioning or other equipment for victims with disabilities

• Offers culturally appropriate counselling services to Indigenous women by Indigenous women, via telephone, text, or chat

Offers services in 14 languages, including:

• Oji-Cree
• Cree
• Algonquin
• Inuktitut
• Mohawk
• Oneida
• Odawa
• Potawatomi
• Micmac
• Black Foot
• Anishnaabe
• Moose Cree
• Swampy Cree
• English

Provides support to individuals experiencing issues such as:

• Stress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Grief
• Recent or previous trauma

Provides the following support services to families:

• In-home parenting support
• Facilitation of supported access visits between children and their families
• Circle of Security program (to enhance understanding of attachment, training)
• Consultation with staff members, community professionals and care providers
• Transportation to facilitate access visits and temporary daycare/school drives

Intake and Assessment

• Receives child protection referrals in confidence from the community
• Accepts allegations of child neglect and abuse
• Serves as general intake for all other programs and services offered

Child Welfare

• Investigates allegations of child abuse and child neglect to determine the safety of the family environment for children
• Develops a plan of care for each child in collaboration with the child, caregiver and when possible, the biological family

Crisis Intervention and Counselling

• Provides crisis intervention and counselling
• Refers children or adult offenders to other commonly used services when and where needed

Volunteer Opportunities

• Offers a variety of volunteer opportunities for community members
• Options for volunteers can include drivers, foster parents, parent aids, parent relief, recreation buddies, a special friend, tutoring, and sitting on a Volunteer Advisory Board

 

Provides assistance and support to First Nations students attending high school away from their home community

• Provides case management services for each student
• Provides social and spiritual support
• Encourages academic achievement
• Offers individual counselling in areas students might be struggling with such as homesickness and socialization issues

Boarding Home Program

• Coordinates arrangements to place students attending high school in Thunder Bay with a suitable boarding home
• Provides online applications for: families willing to become host boarding homes and students requiring a boarding placement
• Provides a Boarding Home Guidebook for both students and hosts
• Pays an allowance every 2 weeks to boarding parents

Assists community members with the following legal matters:

• Criminal Law if custody is probable
• Family Law
• Child Welfare

Note: Does not help with civil law, employment law, human rights, housing, or social assistance (contact a Community Legal Worker (CLW) for a referral)

Offers counselling services, peer support groups, and workshops that address various issues including:

• Anger management
• Depression
• Male survivors of sexual abuse
• Relationships
• Trauma

Member agency of Support Services Network for Male Survivors in Ontario

• Provides services and supports for individuals who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ)
• Offers peer support and skills building groups
• Counsels individuals, their partners, and family members

Offers various clinical services, including:

• Primary health care
• Sexual health
• Preventative health screening
• Medical support for transition process
• Health care and education services
• Groups: Gender Journeys, Transgender Peer Group, Host of The Other 10%, Host to the Sexuality and Gender Equity (SAGE) Committee
• Telemedicine services

Operates as a program under the Healing and Wellness Branch

• Developed as a new program aimed at supporting healthy and whole Métis families
• Works to reduce family violence, the number of youth involved in the justice system and the number of children in care
• Focus is on providing direct one-on-one client services and educational resources and family wellness planning

Services provided can include but are not limited to the following:

• After school safe places and homework clubs
• Assistance in navigating the community support system
• Assisting children and youth to foster self-identity and to develop life skills
• Court-related supports
• Empowering parents to be their children's best advocates
• Ensuring families have their basic needs met
• Guidance for building healthy relationships and raising awareness of personal safety issues
• Peer support for youth involved in justice and correction issues
• Referrals for employment and training programs
• Supports for children and youth who have experienced or witnessed violence
• Supports for Métis youth to stay in school
• Support in case meetings and conferencing

Telephone crisis support continues to operate 24/7.  In Thunder Bay, call 807-346-8282, or in the district, call toll-free at 1-888-269-3100.  Mobile Unit and Crisis Support Residence currently suspended due to covid-19.

• Provides 24/7 telephone support
• Offers an 8 hour mobile unit to provide in-person crisis assessment
• Operates a short-term Crisis Support Residence

Telephone support provides the following:

• Crisis assessment and intervention
• Follow-up
• Referrals to other community services
• Support to family and friends
• Wellness Planning

LOCAL CMHA BRANCH SERVICES DURING COVID-19

CMHA branches are open but many are offering alternative service delivery at this time
Service delivery may be provided:

• in person
• by phone 

or in the following virtual ways:

• PCVC - Personal computer video conferencing
• OTN - Ontario Telemedicine Network
• ZOOM -  Video/web conferencing platform

Please note: CMHA branch offerings are subject to change in response to the ongoing developments of COVID-19. The website below will reflect the most accurate and current information.

Follow this link to determine how service delivery is being provided by choosing the appropriate CMHA location from the website's drop down list.

• Gives immediate legal assistance on family law issues to individuals who appear in court without a lawyer
• Provides information about legal rights, obligations and basic court procedure
• Helps negotiate or settle issues
• Reviews or prepares court documents to be filed
• Helps determines if further duty counsel services are required or if the matter requires Legal Aid Ontario's assistance in retaining a lawyer

Provides assistance in:

• the courtroom for child protection hearings
• garnishment and support hearings
• requesting adjournments
• arguing motions
• hearings for issues such as custody, access, or support where the issues are not complicated

• Provides holistic healing services
• Offers individual and group counselling

Programs include:

• Anger Management for Women (court approved)
• Child Witness
• Drumming Group
• Grief Counselling​
• Sacred Circle
• Sexual Abuse/Sexual Assault healing
• Support for Indigenous Trafficking Survivors
• Women Living Free From Violence Group
• Women's Addiction Program
• Walk-in Counselling

Offers weekly walk-in counselling on a first-come, first-served basis

Types of counselling include:

• Abuse/Sexual Abuse Trauma
• Addictions
• Anger management
• Depression and anxiety
• Grief
• Residential School trauma
• Provides seminars on health issues such as depression, diabetes and parenting teens

• Offers on-site early intervention and crisis intervention
• Provides needs assessment, safety planning and referrals to community services
• Offers enhanced support for vulnerable victims
• Provides assistance with applications to VQRP+

Victim Quick Response Program+ (VQRP+)

Provides assistance with emergency expenses related to the incident, including:

• home safety
• accommodation
• meals
• transportation
• basic necessities
• dependent care costs
• counselling
• traditional Indigenous health services
• cellular phones
• vision care
• dental care
• aids for victims with disabilities
• interpretation services
• crime scene cleanup
• government/medical documents
• funeral expenses

Additional assistance for victims of human trafficking includes:

• storage locker
• tattoo removal
• treatment at a recovery facility

Note: No direct reimbursement to victims for above supports

Financial support also available for:

• victims who sustained serious physical injuries during a crime
• parents of child homicide victims
• spouses of homicide victims

Volunteers

• Recruits individuals to provide support to victims
• Provides individuals with specialized training at no cost

Volunteers will:

• Assist in developing a personalized safety plan for the victim
• Provide information about legal assistance and programs
• Offer referrals to long-term service providers within the community
• Provide temporary practical and emotional support

Provides legal assistance for low-income people

Services include:

• Legal representation for eligible clients who appear in court without a lawyer
• Legal aid applications and information over the phone
• Legal resources and referrals to other social assistance agencies
• A legal aid certificate program which enables a client to retain a lawyer for complex and serious cases

Areas of law served include:

• Criminal
• Domestic violence
• Family

Does NOT cover applications for:

• Wrongful dismissal
• Change of name
• Personal bankruptcy
• Power of attorney
• Money lent to others or money owed to others
• Sponsorship of relatives
• Commercial litigation
• Real estate matters and libel
• Defamation and slander

Assists individuals with family law issues who are being assisted by Legal Aid Ontario

• Offers an out-patient mental health program with a multidisciplinary approach to treating a variety of mental health issues
• Provides individual counselling
• Emphasizes skill based training and other integrative educational strategies to help clients achieve their goals

Offers groups including:

• Anger Management Group
• Anxiety (Understanding Anxiety)
• Assertion Group
• Communication Group
• Depression (Understanding Depression)
• Family Issues Group
• Feeling Good Group
• Life
• Living with a Loss Group
• Men's Group
• Relationships Group
• Self-Esteem
• Soul (Returning to Soul)
• Spirituality Group
• Stress Management
• This Is Your Life - A Peer Support Group
• Wellness Group

Helps Aboriginal children and families who are residing in the Thunder Bay District better access Dilico's health, mental health, addictions, and child welfare services through a city location

Health services that can be accessed at this site include:

• Adult Mental Health Worker
• Concurrent Disorder Case Manager
• Diabetes program
• Health Services Manager
• Intake and Aftercare workers
• Primary care
• Transitional aged service workers
• Walk-in medical clinic
• Youth Outreach Workers
• Youth in transition worker

Offers a healing program for residential school survivors or their descendants and extended families in a wilderness setting near Wawakapewin community

• Offers counselling and teaches traditional values and lifestyles as healing tools
• Targets individuals affected by residential school abuse and its intergenerational impacts
• Delivers services through a holistic approach
• Provides 4 intakes per year
• Provides services in a wilderness setting for individual families, groups and communities

Services offered can include:

• Counselling by Elders and/or traditional healers
• Cultural ceremonies, teachings and dialogue
• Transportation, when required

• Gives immediate legal assistance to individuals who appear in court for criminal matters without a lawyer
• Provides information about legal rights, obligation and the court process
• Provides assistance in the courtroom for bail hearings and sentencing
• Assists with diversions, guilty pleas and sentencing
• Helps determine if further duty counsel services are required or if the matter requires Legal Aid Ontario's assistance in retaining a lawyer

Provides assistance in specialized courts such as:

• Mental health
• Drug treatment
• Domestic violence
• Aboriginal persons (Gladue) court

Note: Criminal duty counsel cannot assist with trials