The United Conservative Party (UCP) vows to expand accessible and affordable mental health support for children, youth and all Albertans..On Saturday, the UCP said it will continue focusing on early intervention, diagnosis, and treatment to improve outcomes and build on the comprehensive recovery-oriented system of care it has developed for mental health and addiction.."Albertans need hope, not heroin," said UCP candidate Mike Ellis for Calgary-West.."The UCP is here to offer real hope and real recovery for all Albertans.".According to researchers at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy, mental health concerns in children and youth have increased in recent years. Recognizing the crucial role of mental health support..The UCP said on Saturday a re-elected United Conservative government will assist children and youth struggling with mental health issues..Focusing on treatment and recovery, the UCP said it will earmark $60 million to build four new youth mental wellness centres to provide inpatient mental health and addiction treatment for youth under the age of 18..“By intervening at an early stage and providing the necessary support to address complex mental health and addiction, United Conservatives will ensure Alberta’s children and youth have access to the care they need to heal, grow and thrive,” UCP candidate Nicholas Milliken for Calgary-Currie said..The UCP will spend $20 million per year if elected to make this happen and will triple the number of Mental Health Classrooms from the 20 currently under development to 60 across Alberta..The UCP said these specialized classroom teams help students with complex needs and include a nurse, social worker, educational psychologist, speech and language therapist, and occupational therapist..In addition, the UCP said it will expand the Integrated School Support Program to an additional 22 high-needs schools across the province and expand the Resilient Schools program which works together with First Nations and Métis schools to develop their own strategies to enhance student success..“Healthy social and emotional skills are important building blocks for the long-term mental health and well-being of children and youth,” Milliken said.“Every young person in Alberta deserves the opportunity to access the best care and treatment to improve their mental health and wellness.”.To help support the broader community, the UCP said a re-elected UCP government will invest $125 million to build five new mental wellness centres for adults. The spaces created in these centres will provide Albertans recovering from mental health challenges with targeted short- and long-term programs to pursue recovery and stabilize in the community. If re-elected, the UCP vows to also expand Counselling Alberta to provide same-day, no waitlist, accessible and affordable counselling sessions for all Albertans.."We will add $4 million per year to expand the number of training spaces in our post-secondaries to ensure we have enough mental health professionals to staff these added beds and facilities," the UCP stated..The UCP said the initiatives mentioned above will receive funding from the healthcare funding agreement the UCP government recently negotiated with the government of Canada.."By bringing more Alberta taxpayer dollars back from Ottawa, we can ensure that Alberta families have access to the high-quality, affordable, and timely mental health support they need to heal from trauma or other challenges,” said Ellis..“For too many, untreated mental health conditions lead to a life of addiction, and then crimes to fuel that addiction. We need to stop that vicious cycle early, and help these Albertans find a different path.”
