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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
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
Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin chastised provincial and federal politicians for failing to properly fund mental health services for military children -- but said action is now finally being taken to correct the shortfall.
"The intensity of the harm caused by war-related stress and anxiety can be reduced and managed with timely and effective intervention by trained counsellors," said Marin.
After both her parents were stationed in Afghanistan, 12-year-old Micah Gilchrist fell into a depression.
"I started to lock myself in my room, I didn't want to talk to anyone," Gilchrist told CTV News.
"I didn't want to be happy because I didn't want to feel guilty that my parents would get hurt or they would die or something."
Anxiety, aggression and thoughts of suicide are on the rise for children like Gilchrist.
In Petawawa alone, the base has lost 20 soldiers. Ninety families have requested help, which is 10 times more than before the mission began.
The local counselling agency is overwhelmed with requests, their waiting list up to six months in length.
"It's very much like standing by the side of a river and seeing people drowning," said Greg Lubomiv of the Phoenix Centre for Families.
"We know how to save them, but we're not being provided with the tools."
Marin agrees and said the primary responsibility falls on the province.
He argued the situation in Ontario has left dozens of children suffering while provincial and federal politicians bicker about who should fund the programs.
"We in Ontario have been failing to provide the support that is required," said Marin.
The Ombudsman launched an investigation March 1 after a complaint was received from the executive director of the Phoenix Centre -- the only children's mental health facility near CFB Petawawa.
The centre accused the provincial government of failing to provide adequate services for military children, despite a demand for psychological counselling that jumped from two per cent to 20 per cent.
Marin announced Friday that the Ontario government had accepted three key recommendations from his report:
To immediately fund children's mental health services through the Phoenix Centre;
To ensure long-term mental health support for the children of military personnel in consultation with the federal government;
Provide the Ombudsman's office with monthly progress reports.
The provincial government, which received the report on March 28, has agreed to give an additional $24.5 million for children's mental health centres. Marin said that $400,000 over two years will go specifically to the Phoenix Centre.
Originally, the province said caring for the mental health of military children was a federal responsibility because of the war in Afghanistan.
In response, Ottawa insisted that mental-health services were to be paid for on the provincial level.
"While constitutionally the province retains full responsibility for the mental health services for Ontario children... the federal government has a moral obligation to support its troops," said Marin.
He said if the federal government does not step up it could have an effect on the morale of troops on the front line.
To their credit, said Marin, National Defence has approved a one-time funding allotment of $100,000 to CFB Petawawa's Military Family Resource Centre to help contract services in conjunction with the Phoenix Centre.
With a report from CTV's Roger Smith in Ottawa