More Black youth are reaching out for mental health, substance use help in Windsor

A program that offers mental health and substance use support to Black youth in Windsor is seeing more people reach out for help, according to service providers. 

Having only started three years ago in Windsor, the program AMANI, has now had to create a waitlist for service. Formerly known as the Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth or "SAPACCY," the program helps people between the ages of 12 and 29 years old, who are African, Caribbean, and/or Black. 

There are eight regions in Ontario that offer the AMANI program, which is funded by the provincial government. According to the website, it's the "first-ever Canadian hospital and community partnership focused on advancing care for Black youth." 

The Black-led program specifically works from an Afrocentric lens, one that understands how racism and oppression can impact the mental health and substance use issues youth deal with. 

"A program like AMANI that is culturally affirming and facilitated by providers that have similar lived experiences allow Black youth and their families to be able to ... let go and be able to trust the individual that is caring for them," said Nadine Manroe-Wakerell, director of clinical practice overseeing Windsor's AMANI program. 

When it first launched in Windsor, Manroe-Wakerell says they had about 70 clients. Last year they logged more than 260 clients and this year, she says, they've had to start putting people on a waitlist. 

Manroe-Wakerell says the amount of time someone waits for service depends on the severity of their needs. But, she says, AMANI staff check in with people on the wait list to see how they're coping. 

Windsor Black youth struggling with anxiety, depression

As for who is reaching out for help, AMANI's lead social worker Giselle Vinsky says it's often youth with family conflicts, as well as anxiety and depression disorders. 

"We have immigrant parents who are raising kids in the Canadian system," she said, adding this means AMANI often needs to educate parents on mental health issues. 

Stats Canada report finds racialized girls struggle with supports

Tailoring the program to racialized youth by ensuring providers come from a similar background plays a big part in the program's success, says Monroe-Wakerell. 

Oftentimes, Manroe-Wakerell says people in minority groups will "code switch" — meaning they talk or act differently around people from other communities, instead of being their authentic selves. This, she says, is what sometimes keeps Black youth from fully opening up to health care workers. 

"With many of our Black youth, racism, biases and unfortunate situations have had a negative impact on their ability to either access care [or] their ability to feel like the care is effective," she said. 

And according to a report released last month from Statistics Canada, that's a common trend.

The report looked at access to support services for mental health and substance abuse among girls and women ages 15 to 29 using 2022 data, the most recent available.

It found that there were demographic differences in how patients felt about treatment they received for mental health or substance use issues. In particular, racialized girls and young women were more likely than their non-racialized peers to say they were unsatisfied with the care they accessed.

The Statistics Canada report said this could be because there are not many health care providers "trained in culturally appropriate health care."

But AMANI is one program trying to address that issue. 

Program allows youth to let their guard down

Windsor resident Juchelle West is currently using AMANI's services. She says talking about her problems to someone from a similar background allows her to be more "open and vulnerable." 

The 19-year-old, who was born in Jamaica and grew up in the United States, has struggled with her mental health for years. She told CBC News that she's been diagnosed with depression and borderline personality disorder. 

"If the person can connect to me in a certain way and I feel like I'm opening up to talk to them, then yeah, it's going to be a better session for me," she said.

"Especially if [they're from] the same heritage or something close to it or like [their] parents [are] from the same island or you eat the same food. It just would just feel like a sister or a brother ... that makes you feel like I can talk to this person."

And Vinsky says she sees the way clients have let their guard down — a big deal for people in the Black community, who she says often don't trust the healthcare system. 

"They are a lot more willing to open up and share and communicate how they're feeling," she said. 

What could help?

Beyond AMANI, Vinsky says she wants to see more meaningful diversity and cultural competency training at organizations, as well as a focus on hiring racialized health care providers. 

As for West, she says lower wait times would help, as well as tailoring the process so that patients are paired with a provider they are likely to connect with.