Substance use, mental health top list of concerns for youth, advocate report says
Manitoba's children's advocate heard from 293 youth in 63 locations during listening tour last year
More than half of the youth who participated in consultations with Manitoba's children's advocate raised concerns about substance use, mental health and poverty.
The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth released a report Thursday on last year's listening tour to raise awareness among Manitoba youth of their rights, as well as gather information on the challenges they face and potential solutions.
"We heard loud and clear about the need for more mental health and addictions-related services and programs," said Ainsley Krone, the acting Manitoba advocate for children and youth.
The vast majority of the 293 young people who provided responses (79 per cent) identified a need for more resources for mental health and addictions services in Manitoba.
"This is an overwhelming and key message to decision-makers, that youth are calling for more mental health and addictions-related supports in this province," Krone said.
The report, titled "The Right to Be Heard," says 55 per cent of youth who responded mentioned substance use, 53 per cent mentioned mental health and wellness and 52 per cent mentioned poverty as challenges young people encounter.
The 293 youth were from 63 different locations and they provided input through 11 focus groups and an online survey.
More than 1,000 young people attended presentations by the advocate on the listening tour.
Organizers aimed to include as many participants as possible from priority groups, including Indigenous youth, youth living in northern Manitoba, youth in custody and youth who have immigrated to Canada.
They had planned to hold more focus groups but had to switch their focus to the online survey due to the pandemic.
Participants were nearly evenly split between those living in Winnipeg and those in communities outside the capital.
Although there were many commonalities among the groups who participated in the survey, youth living in the north were more likely cite poverty and addictions as their top concerns, while youth in the south were more likely to cite racism and mental health.
Violence was mentioned by 41 per cent of youth, and racism and discrimination were mentioned by 36 per cent.
The youth who participated in the report also proposed a wide array of potential solutions.
Reducing wait times for mental health services was one of their top priorities.
"Of note, youth spoke specifically about being tired of wait lists and the importance of immediate access to mental health supports when they're needed," Krone said.
In addition to more mental health and addictions supports, respondents also wanted more recreational and cultural programs, improved access to sexual health programs, education, affordable housing and public transportation.
The advocate's office has repeatedly raised concerns about substance use and mental health with the provincial government since 2018, a news release from the advocate says.
