Past and present chairpersons of the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women say mental health and addictions services in PEI have been underfunded and community-based supports for mental wellbeing have been lacking across five decades.
The Chairs Circle consultation is calling for increased supports for mental health and addictions saying resources and funding are still very low, and there is little recognition of the costs to society when people are unwell.
Mari Basiletti, current Chairperson of the Advisory Council, says there are hopeful signs that government is paying attention to mental health and addictions services for youth, especially the Insight program for mental health and the Strength program for addictions.
And Basiletti says she feels positive about the in-school mental health support teams being piloted beginning this September.