# Military children to receive more help in Ontario



## Armymedic (14 Apr 2007)

As a father of 2 elementry school age girls, I had found the Ont gov'ts position on this appalling. My 6 yr old asked my wife "If Daddy goes to Afghanistan, will he die?"

If this is an indiction of the stress children of soldiers face, then lets get off our hih hors people and do what is right.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/20070413/military_children_070413/20070413/?hub=Canada&subhub=PrintStory



> CTV.ca News Staff
> 
> Updated: Fri. Apr. 13 2007 11:25 PM ET
> 
> ...


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## Daidalous (14 Apr 2007)

I remember feeling the same way when my father used to deploy when I was young.  I am very glad that DND forked up $100,000 for Pet,  but what about Edmonton, or Gagetown....etc.....


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## niner domestic (14 Apr 2007)

According to yesterday's report on the CBC, all of those bases/cities were examined for services and found to be adequate in the surrounding areas.


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## geo (14 Apr 2007)

While I find it admirable that the Ontario Gov't has found a way to resolve the "problem" to everyone's satisfaction, I would have thought that the $$$ that all Ontario based servicemen pay to Ontario every year would have amounted to enough consideration for them to have done something without having had to get the Ombudsman involved.

Personnel in the other provinces don't have to cough up the cash each year - would have thought the taxed amount woulda been enough to get action


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## Armymedic (15 Apr 2007)

Daidalous said:
			
		

> I remember feeling the same way when my father used to deploy when I was young.  I am very glad that DND forked up $100,000 for Pet,  but what about Edmonton, or Gagetown....etc.....



As geo pointed out, Ont based soldiers pay a health service premium as part of our provincial taxes. So it is not like our families are freeloading on the provincial system. This is what is so maddening about this controversy.

Also as opposed to Gagetown, Valcartier and Edmonton, all which have a large civilian population nearby, Petawawa has only the Pheniox center and the small amount of services it has there, which not only serve the base, but also that whole Ottawa Valley area. 

That accenduates the problem.


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## Blackadder1916 (16 Apr 2007)

While this issue garnered much recent publicity, it is not a new problem, though it now strikes closer to home for many on this forum because a local shortfall in child mental health services was directly exacerbated by an increased demand by military families from Petawawa.  But, as a poster (on other thread) pointed out, the average wait time for these services across the province (Ont) is 4 months and that may be just to get an evaluation to determine what is the problem.  I can’t speak about the current specifics of Ontario’s system (it has been some years since I lived there) but this is an issue that affects more than Ontario and more than family members of serving soldiers.

Just how important is this issue.  The second leading cause of death (after accidents) for children is suicide.  Some figures place the number of children with mental health issues at 10 to 20 percent; included are such illnesses as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bi-polar and conduct disorders, with many going undiagnosed and untreated due to lack of resources. For example, depression is highly treatable, but the rate of detection among adolescents is a tragically low 7 to 20 per cent due to a lack of services.

Due to public pressure there was a response of additional funding for the Phoenix Centre in Renfrew.  That is all well and good, but what about the other areas that are not yet a “squeaky wheel”.  If we only restrict the comparison to those locales that are similar (with regards military families) to Petawawa, we may find that the Ottawa Valley was equally or better served.  While one might assume that larger population centres such as Edmonton, Quebec City or Fredericton have a reasonable infrastructure in place that can be accessed, it is more likely that they are already at capacity.  But what about Brandon (Shilo) etc., and how available are civilian services for the families of soldiers who come from places that do not have a significant military presence such as the many reservists who have deployed overseas.


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## MonicaB (6 May 2007)

As a mother of 3 whose husband is currently deployed, I have mixed feelings on this report.  While I applaud the government's decision to increase funding, I question that this funding is being provided solely to the Phoenix centre.   The Phoenix Centre is not the only option available for counselling here in Renfrew county.  As military families, we are very fortunate to have what I believe to be great health care insurance through Sunlife (certainly far better than most of the coverage our "civilian" friends have).  I would have rather seen an increase in the amount of money per family that we can claim for counselling services, instead of all of the funding going to the Phoenix Centre.  But more importantly, I think the funding should be put into the Children's Deployment Pilot Program that is currently in place in the local area schools.  All 3 of my children attend this program, and have found it extremely beneficial.  I think this could be a very effective tool to help prevent a lot of the problems that lead to these children needing more specific counselling.


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## ladybugmabj (13 May 2007)

My husband returned from Astan in March 07, having gone through one of the worst tours of his career. He lost 6 company mates, as well as a well respected RSM, and two other co-workers. Not to be forgotten, the other fallen from 03-6. My sons both went through the deployment program on base and seemed okay.(the Deployment program was only for the base schools...I am not sure if it's been expanded into the village schools yet) Things have gotten worse at school since dad came home for our oldest. Moody, irritable, etc ..
I thank the government for the increased funding to the Phoenix Centre in Pembroke, which will enable us to use their service vice having to drive to Ottawa to see a social worker  at $100/visit (which was usually 1 hour). Even then, I am still spending money on gasoline, food, parking, etc. Those costs add up when gas is $106.9.  I was able to get into the Phoenix Centre in just over a month and a half..considerably less than the 4mth wait. 
Not only will the Phoenix Centre help our son, but the will also help his brother and his parents...something I wouldn't get in our trips to Ottawa. 
 Yes, there are other options in Renfrew county, but for now, I will very willingly accept their help to get over this hurdle in our sons' growth.


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## Love793 (14 May 2007)

Daidalous said:
			
		

> I remember feeling the same way when my father used to deploy when I was young.  I am very glad that DND forked up $100,000 for Pet,  but what about Edmonton, or Gagetown....etc.....




... or school boards within cities that house reserve units?


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## cplwife (28 May 2007)

While I understand that there is a problem in Pet, the other bases far from major cities have a similar problem!  Shilo seems to be forgotten in this topic and it doesn't have a center to take children to.  We have had to take our daughter 2 hours to Winnipeg to see someone regarding her problems stemming from my husband's tour to A.  No one reimbursed us for the trip but we're not complaining, it's just something we had to do.


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## Roy Harding (28 May 2007)

I sent an email to the Premier of Ontario regarding this issue.

Much to my surprise, I received a letter in reply.  Contents of the letter (from the Minister of  Children and Youth Services) follow:



> Dear Mr. Harding:
> 
> Thank you for your letter regarding funding for children's mental health services, which was
> forwarded to me by Premier Dalton McGuinty.
> ...



Just thought y'all may be interested in the viewpoint of the Government of Ontario.


Roy


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