Providing a variety of resources and services to young people and their families

Main partners might include:

• schools
• school boards and school service centres
• centres intégrés de santé et services sociaux (CISSS) and Centres intégrés universitaires de santé et services sociaux (CIUSSS)
• educational childcare services
• municipalities
• community organizations

This action is aligned with the following frameworks:

• Agreement for the Complementarity of Services between the Education Network and the Health and Social Services Network 
• Programme national de santé publique 

Agreements cover, in particular:

• services to young people and their families at school or in the community to ensure their health, well-being and educational success
• specific projects or programs for vulnerable young people (e.g. healthy snacks or lunch programs)
• the sharing and facilitating of access to various facilities
• the pooling of financial and human resources (e.g. sharing expertise)

CISSS and CIUSSS clinical and preventive services should be adapted to the needs and realities of young people and, if necessary, extend to families. Priority services should include:

• sexuality
• mental health
• alcohol and drug use
• violence
• healthy eating
• physical activity
• tobacco

These services should ideally be provided by the CISSSs and CIUSSSs.

• Ensure the confidentiality of services, through strategies to justify school absences or places that allow discreet consultation.
• Use interdisciplinary staff (nurses, social workers, physicians) who are caring and whom students can trust.
• Provide friendly and welcoming environments and spaces specifically for young people.
• Facilitate access to services in or near the community: flexible schedules, consultations with or without an appointment, simple ways of making appointments, reasonable wait times, etc.
• Offer a range of varied and appropriate services.
• Ensure simple, quick and efficient service corridors for the care of young people with physical or psychosocial problems.
• Encourage young people to identify the services they need and to promote these services to their peers and to the adults in their communities.

This action is aligned with the following frameworks:

• Agreement for the Complementarity of Services between the Education Network and the Health and Social Services Network 
• Programme national de santé publique 
• Plan d’action en santé mentale 

• to meet basic needs (e.g. access to housing and employment, community kitchens)
• to ensure the optimal development of young people, particularly through support for parents (e.g. workshops on parent-child communication, eating habits)
• to foster mutual assistance among parents in the community

This action is aligned with the following frameworks:

• Agreement for the Complementarity of Services between the Education Network and the Health and Social Services Network 
• Programme national de santé publique  (in French only)
• Plan d’action en santé mentale  (in French only)