What we do

Caregivers of an adult with a developmental disability can receive emotional support from caregiving peers who understand. Our Family Peer Mentors are family caregivers with lived experience who can help you, the caregiver, by:

• Developing strategies for self-care and stress management
• Assisting you in navigating community caregiver programs and resources
• Offering monthly support groups, and workshops with a focus on self-care and wellness

You must be living in York Region and be receiving Developmental Disability Case Management support to access a family peer mentor.

Children’s Case Coordination works with other agencies across York Region to help children, youth and their families who have very complex social, emotional, developmental, and/or physical needs and who need a coordinated service plan.

We can help children and youth:

• between 0 and 19 years of age, and their families
• who live in York Region
• who are currently involved with service providers in York Region
• who have complex social, emotional, developmental and/or physical needs

For people who are experiencing a mental health crisis, and their family or friends, we offer a Community Crisis Response Service. Call, text or chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-855-310-COPE (2673).

Crisis workers will provide an immediate response in a variety of critical situations (e.g., depression, loneliness, anxiety or fear, thoughts of suicide, hopelessness, etc.). Depending on the caller’s level of need, crisis services may include:

• a face-to-face visit from a Mobile Crisis Response Team
• access to a Mental Health Support Team
• a stay in a short-term crisis bed
• assistance through a range of service providers

Our case managers provide Case Management Services to children and youth with developmental delays and their families, as well as adults who have developmental disabilities living in York Region. Individuals and their families receive assistance to plan for the services they need to support the individual with the delay as well as connect them with services available in the community.

We can help if you:

• are a child or youth and family with developmental delays or adult with a developmental disability
• live in York Region

We can connect you to the following services:

• respite planning and camps
• special education services
• government funding resources
• health services
• children, youth and adult services

Developmental Services Ontario (DSO)

Developmental Services Ontario (DSO) connects people to available services and supports so that they can become more independent and actively involved in their communities, and ultimately, have more meaningful lives. Some of those supports can include case management services, support workers, housing supports, community participation supports, caregiver respite supports, and more.

DSO is the access point for adult developmental services funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) in Ontario. There are 9 DSO agencies located across the province serving different counties and regions. YSSN administers the program for DSO Central East Region, which is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) and is one of nine DSOs in Ontario. DSO Central East Region includes the Regional Municipality of York, the Regional Municipality of Durham, Simcoe County, Peterborough County, Northumberland County, Haliburton County, and the City of Kawartha Lakes.

A facilitator can:

• help put a person-directed plan into action by working with the family, friends and supporters.
• help a person move towards realizing goals and building new connections
• assist with development of support team to work towards the person’s goals for community participation

This service is available for a fee. For adults who receive Passport funding, Passport can assist with costs.

As part of the Ontario Autism Program (OAP), YSSN offers Foundational Family Services to help build a family’s capacity to support their child with Autism to learn and develop.  Service is available to families who have a child diagnosed with autism from infancy to age 17.

As part of the OAP Family Foundational Family Services Your Support Services offers:

• Parent peer support offered by peers
• Transitioning to JK/SK or adulthood
• General information workshops for parents
• One to three individual 90 minute Brief service coordination meetings

Dialectical Behaviour Skills (DBS) Group

This skills group combines traditional cognitive and behavioral skills with eastern practices, such as Meditation and Mindfulness.

DBS involves the following:

• Group skills training: 2 hours each week for 16 weeks
• Individual skills training: Additional individual skills coaching sessions may be available to build on skills learned in group

DBS group is for adults 16+ residing in York Region/South Simcoe with a diagnosable mental health challenge excluding psychosis and developmental disabilities.

Central East Adapted Dialectical Behaviour Skills Group (ADBS)

Are you an adult with a dual diagnosis seeking to learn skills related to mindfulness, management of difficult situations, emotion regulation, and effective communication? Consider joining YSSN’s Adapted Dialectical Behaviour Skills (ADBS) group!

• Virtually on Wednesdays 1:30pm – 2:30pm from September to March (possibility of transitioning to in-person at the Aurora office location)
• Participants must have a paid or unpaid support person accompany them to each session
• Commit to the 3-year model

For more information, please contact: Natalee Lewis at nlewis2@yssn.ca

ADBS group is for adults 16+ with a dual diagnosis residing in York Region/South Simcoe

Shame-Resilience Group

The Shame-Resilience Group, in partnership with CMHA, explores the relationship between shame and mental health skills to build resiliency to the impact of shame.  

The curriculum is based on the work of renowned speaker and author Brené Brown. 

To participate in this group, it is recommended that you have participated in the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Skills Group in the past, or together with this group. 

Please note that this is a closed group offered to eligible individuals enrolled in Case Management with YSSN or CMHA. 

Single Session Supportive Counselling

Get immediate help with an issue related to your mental health. Our Single Session Counselling offers you personalized support so you can build a plan to work through one of the following concerns:

• coping with a specific mental health challenge
• caregiver challenges
• housing
• addictions
• education
• access to community services
• other concern you may be dealing with

Counsellors will concentrate on helping you build a plan for one or two concerns within the session.

Our case managers will encourage you to play an active role in addressing your needs through our Case Management Services. We work together with you to develop a plan that helps you access community resources, reach your goals and strengthen social and family supports.

We can help if you:

• are 16 years of age or older
• live in York Region or South Simcoe
• have a diagnosable mental health condition and/or addictions issue and/or dual diagnosis

We offer the following Case Management Services:

• Intensive Case Management
• Flexible Supports
• Dual Diagnosis
• Trauma
• Community Treatment Orders
• Hoarding
• Criminal Justice
• Service Resolution
• Hospice

The Passport Program, funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, helps adults with a developmental disability live as independently as possible by providing funding for community participation services and supports, activities of daily living, and person-directed planning. The program also provides funding for caregiver respite services and supports for primary caregivers of an adult with a developmental disability.

Our Peer Support Services connect you to a peer who has faced mental health and/or addictions challenges, homelessness, or to caregivers of adults with a developmental disability and/or caregivers of a person with a mental health condition and/or addictions. They understand your situation and can help you find hope, build trust and resilience, and embrace non-judgmental acceptance.

Offered through our Flexible Supports Intensive Case Management service, Community Crisis Response – 1-855-310-COPE (2673) and Streamlined Access, our team of peer support facilitators can help you find hope, empowerment, non-judgmental acceptance and trust.

YSSN hosts respite services for families through two ways:

1. A Respite Access Facilitator works with adults and their families to identify their respite needs, develop plans, and find the resources that are right for them.
2. The CHAP Program (Community Helpers for Active Participation) maintains a respite worker registry to assist families in hiring staff.

Why register with the CHAP Program?

• Families can connect easily with respite workers either to work in the home and/or enable individuals to participate in community based respite opportunities
• Once registered, families can access CHAP workers as much or as little as needed. Families receive and review the profiles of workers and independently negotiate with and hire a worker who best suits their needs

Streamlined Access is an intake service and assessment that provides referrals and/or access to a number of mental health and supportive housing programs through one streamlined application process. We can help people who are 16 years and older who live in York Region or South Simcoe, and need help with their mental health and addictions recovery.

We help people:

• identify the help they need
• find information on available supports and services
• apply for services and connect to other community supports and services.

Up Hub is York Region’s go-to online and print community resource navigator for local social services in mental health, addictions, and developmental disabilities, as well as a peer-based platform for people to share their stories and uplifting experiences to help others.

Up your community. Up your connections. Up your life.

The Up Your Life guide (formerly the York Region on a Limited Budget book) is a popular peer-based guidebook that includes more than 400 community resource listings, tips, personal stories of struggle and resilience and other helpful information for people living in York Region.