Health and Wellness

Mental fitness and wellness include everything we do and experience every day, including understanding our feelings and emotions, managing, and building relationships, creating goals, and achieving purpose. Life is naturally full of challenges and stressors. Developing healthy social/emotional skills and a toolbox of strategies can help everyone maintain and enhance their mental fitness.

K-12 Mental Health & Well-Being Plan 2024-2027

In September 2020, the Ministry of Education and Child Care released the Mental Health in Schools (MHiS) Strategy to provide a vision for embedding mental health and well-being into all aspects of the K-12 education system.  The strategy focuses on three main elements: Compassionate Systems Leadership, Capacity Building, and Mental Health in Classrooms.  The MHiS Strategy recognizes the critical role schools play in promoting positive mental health for British Columbians. Creating and sustaining environments that support mental health and well-being are key to the work of BC school districts.  We are all more successful when we learn and work in healthy and safe environments where well-being is embedded.  While the primary focus for schools is mental health promotion, school staff also provide initial supports for students with significant mental health challenges, and for connecting them with further support when necessary.  A district mental health plan helps to coordinate and communicate this important work.

The conversation around creating a comprehensive plan for Coast Mountains School District started in 2023-2024 with the BC Children's Hospital, health promotion and health literacy including the guidance of Practice Support Coaches.  District administration met monthly in discussion with BC Children's Hospital for guidance, assistance in developing a plan and the new process for the province.  The K-12 Mental Health & Well-Being Plan 2024-2027 for Coast Mountains School District was presented to the Education Committee on January 15, 2025 and presented o the Board of Education for information on January 28, 2025. 

Access the following link to view the CMSD K-12 Mental Health & Well-Being Plan 2024-2027. 

Integrated Child and Youth Teams

The Integrated Child and Youth (ICY) teams are part of B.C.'s strategy for mental health and substance use care. The ICY teams bring services together in a multidisciplinary team setting.

The teams make it easier for children and youth to connect to the care they need, where and when they need it – at school and in the community.

Each team supports children and youth within a school district area from early years to age 19 (potentially up to age 21 if they already receive services through an ICY team, based on best fit).

Integrated Child and Youth CMSD Team Members

• Clinical Counsellors work as part of the multi-disciplinary, multi-jurisdictional Integrated Child and Youth team to provide therapeutic, clinical counselling services, school liaison support for children and youth (birth to age 19) and families experiencing mental health needs, and to manage and oversee the Youth Peer Support Worker position.
• Peer Youth Support Workers offers peer-based mentoring and emotional support, and works collaboratively with youth, their families, and members of the care team. This position acts as a role model and helps young people, and their families work towards their self-identified goals by supporting them with systems navigation and to connecting them with resources on ICY teams and in the community.

Our goal is to create inclusive learning environments where students feel accepted, valued, confident and safe to engage in learning, and where collaborative teams are committed to a shared vison to support students in reaching their full potential.

Health and Wellness

Mental fitness and wellness include everything we do and experience every day, including understanding our feelings and emotions, managing, and building relationships, creating goals, and achieving purpose. Life is naturally full of challenges and stressors. Developing healthy social/emotional skills and a toolbox of strategies can help everyone maintain and enhance their mental fitness.

Mental Health Community Resources

ERASE is a government of British Columbia strategy with the goals of building safe and caring school communities. This includes empowering students, parents, educators, and the community partners who support them to get help with challenges, report concerns to schools, and learn about complex issues facing students.

ERASE = expect respect & a safe education : https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/erase

Kelty Mental Health If you are concerned about your child or a child you care for, the BC Children's Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre has resources to support you. You will find information on key topics that parents and caregivers often have questions about. This includes some first steps you can take if you are concerned about your child, how to navigate through the different options for treatment and support in BC, information on different medications for mental health challenges and how to connect with a parent peer support worker at the Kelty Centre. Whether it's information, tools, or a listening ear you are looking for, the Kelty Centre there to help.

Kelty Mental Health https://keltymentalhealth.ca/

Foundry BC supports young people aged 12-24 and their families with easy access to care. Whether a young person needs support for anxiety or depression, wants to see a family doctor or is struggling with a stressful situation, we will help them get the services they need. Foundry makes it easy for young people to find youth-friendly, welcoming and appropriate services – by simply walking into their local Foundry center, accessing Foundry’s virtual services, or by exploring the tools and resources online at foundrybc.ca. Foundry reaches young people earlier – before their health concerns have a severe impact on their health and well-being.

Foundry BC: https://foundrybc.ca/

Northern Health priority is to Northern Health will partner with communities to support people to live well and prevent disease and injury. Northern Health provide a variety of services for children and youth including healthy living (school and youth programs and spirit of healthy kids) mental health and substance use etc.

Northern Health: https://www.northernhealth.ca/

Mindup at home offers resources to help parents and kids to reduce stress and anxiety and to improve their brain fitness and resilience. The MindUp at home resource provides webinars for parents to support SEL skills at home. There are also lots of wonderful kid friendly videos that teach the skills and strategies to help your child learn how the mindful brain works and teaches concepts such as gratitude, optimism, and kindness.

Mindup: https://mindup.org