Lead Agency
Cultivating the future of care—together.
We are Lynwood Charlton Centre, the Lead Agency for child and youth mental health in Hamilton, Ontario.
We are a multi-service organization accredited by the Canadian Centre for Accreditation and a publicly funded charitable organization in the City of Hamilton. We have been designated Lead Agency status by the Ministry of Child and Youth Services (MCYS), and are licensed by the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS).
-
Our role as Lead Agency is to better improve access, experience, and mental health outcomes for Hamilton’s diverse communities.
We support children and adolescents (0-18 and of all gender presentations), and their parents/caregivers who are experiencing complex mental health challenges.
This support would include:
Intensive out-of-home programs run out of 4 sites in Hamilton, Ontario;
At-home treatment programs;
Specialized counselling services for Immigrant and Refugee children, youth and their families;
Specialized counselling services for children and youth (up to age 18) who have been sexually victimized;
Culturally-informed specialized mental health services for children, youth, and families who identify as Black, Indigenous, or Persons of Colour (BIPOC);
School-based mental health programs for students;
Professional mental health support and resources for community Educators.
Learn more about our Programs and Services.
-
We use evidence-based treatment approaches proven through research and practice.
These evidence-based assessments and measurements are used to establish treatment plans, clinical interventions and monitor the progress and outcomes of children and youth.
We use a multidisciplinary approach to our service delivery with each program led by a Program Manager and Team Leader(s).
We work in partnership with children, youth, and their families in all aspects of the care they receive, including co-creating a plan that will work for them.
We communicate what mental health services are available in communities; and how to access the mental health services and supports that meet their needs.
We contribute to research which is important to the improvement of treatment programming, clinical direction and the knowledge base of the field of child and youth mental health.
We provide meaningful opportunities for youth and families to be active contributors to positive system change.
Learn more about Our Approach.
-
Our Core Services are grouped into the following categories:
Targeted Prevention
Brief Services
Counselling and Therapy
Family/Caregiver Capacity Building and Support
Specialized Consultation and Assessments
Crisis Support Services
Intensive Treatment Services
Learn more about our Programs and Services.
-
Access and System Navigation (ASN) is the single point of access / referral for child and youth mental health services in the Hamilton area.
We are focused on transforming the experience of children, youth and families with mental health challenges.
As Lead Agency for Child and Youth Mental Health, we work in collaboration with Hamilton’s 7 Core Service Providers to strengthen relationships with educators, healthcare professionals, child welfare organizations and other community partners to improve the mental health of our community.
Core Service Providers for Child and Youth Mental Health in Hamilton
Alternatives for Youth
CSCHN (Centre de santé communautaire Hamilton/Niagara)
City of Hamilton Public Health, Child and Adolescent Services
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, COAST (Crisis Outreach and Support Team)
Good Shepherd , Youth Services Mental Health Program
Lynwood Charlton Centre
McMaster Children’s Hospital, Child and Youth Mental Health Program (CYMHP)
Hamilton Children & Youth Mental Health and Addictions Service System Review Findings Report 2026
Collective Results* guided community partners in Hamilton in a comprehensive review of the service system for children and youth with mental health and addictions needs. This report summarizes the community engagement journey that informed strategy development for system-level action and improvements.
*Collective Results is a social purpose organization that is passionate about helping public sector, non-profit, and charitable organizations make positive change for people and communities by bringing clarity to complexity.
Moving on Mental Health (MOMH)
Moving on Mental Health (MOMH) is a system initiative that the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) developed to fundamentally change the way mental health services are delivered to children and youth.
As the Lead Agency for Child and Youth Mental Health in the Hamilton service area, we are a part of this leadership role working - with local planning bodies, youth, parents and partner agencies - to provide accessible, consistent, high-quality children’s mental health services across Ontario.
-
In 2012, the Ontario provincial government- through the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) - released an action plan to build on Ontario’s Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, focusing its first investment on children and youth.
“Moving on Mental Health: A system that makes sense for children and youth” was that action plan which outlined key areas of system improvement.
The ultimate goal? To improve children’s and youth’s mental health services by creating a more accessible, coordinated, and responsive system.
-
A Focus on Children and Youth:
Establishing clear pathways for the care of young people and their families, ensuring the care they receive is more consistent and accessible across the province.
A Lead Agency Model:
A Lead Agency is designated for each community service area in Ontario to manage child and youth mental health system within their region. These lead agencies are responsible for providing core services and collaborating with other services, such as: schools, hospitals, primary care workers, and child welfare authorities.
System Transformation:
The strategy is to transform the entire system by strengthening community-based services that create clear pathways for families to access the support they need.
This also includes implementing building a Legislative and Regulatory Framework outlining the accountability of lead community-based mental health agencies so that all are held to same standards of care, regardless of where they are in the province.
Implementation is guided by advisory groups made up of parents, youth and service providers to allow opportunity for advice and feedback as system changes are made.
Improved Access and Responsiveness:
A major goal is to ensure that families can access consistent, responsive, and high-quality services that meet their needs.
A Coordination of Services:
A better coordination between different service providers and organizations to provide a seamless experience for families.
-
In order to “ensure accessible, consistent, high-quality children’s mental health services across Ontario”, Lead Agencies were designated for 33 service areas in Ontario.
As the Lead Agency for child and youth mental health in the Hamilton service area, we are responsible for working with local planning bodies, youth, parents, and partner agencies to meet the goals of MOMH.
Roadmap to Wellness
Roadmap to Wellness: A Plan to Build Ontario’s Mental Health and Addictions System was released in March 2020 and sets out a vision for: “a province where all Ontarians have access to high-quality, easily accessible mental health and addictions support throughout their lifetime, where and when they need it.”
As the Lead Agency for child and youth mental health in Hamilton, we are doing our part to forward the province’s vision to ensure community needs are being met, today and well into the future.
-
As the name implies, Roadmap to Wellness is a guide to building a comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions system that is sensitive to the needs of Ontario’s diverse population. It will be a system that people find easier to navigate and where they can access the right level of care to meet their needs.
To enable this plan, Ontario is investing $3.8 billion over 10 years to expand existing programs and fill gaps in care with innovative solutions and services.
Roadmap to Wellness will benefit all Ontarians, including children and youth, Indigenous people, Francophones, first responders, students, individuals who are justice-involved and people experiencing homelessness. It will enable a system that can more effectively respond to everyone’s needs, whether they have a mild to moderate mental health issue or are challenged by a serious and significant illness.
Implementing this roadmap will require a whole-of-government approach, with investments in services provided by partner ministries, such as Children, Community and Social Services, Municipal Affairs and Housing, Solicitor General, Education and Indigenous Affairs, among others. It will also require consistent and ongoing communication between the many mental health and addictions partners and the children, youth, adults and seniors they serve to ensure their needs are being met, today and well into the future.
-
Provincially, Child and Youth Mental Health Services (CYMH) supports a vision of Ontario in which “child and youth mental health is a key determinant of overall well-being, and where children and youth grow to reach their full potential.”
Research shows that “early identification and intervention lead to better health outcomes, improved school achievement, contributions to workforce and society, and cost-savings to the health care, justice and social service systems.”
In light of this, the province has committed to expanding frontline child and youth community mental health services for all ages by investigating innovative approaches to health care delivery.
Aligning and coordinating core services includes collaboration with many sectors that directly serve children, youth and families. These include: health, social services, education, child welfare and youth justice.
As the Lead Agency for child and youth mental health in Hamilton, we are doing our part to forward the province’s vision by ensuring core child and youth mental health services are available in our community.
Facts about core services:
Are delivered across many agencies and sectors;
Are available across the province to children and youth aged 0-18 who have a mental health concern;
Are available in every community (may be dependent on available resources);
Core services accessed by a smaller number of people may be available across a span of communities;
More than one core service can be accessed at a time;
May be part of a treatment plan that also includes services provided by other sectors or Ministry-funded programs.
-
Core services are grouped into the following categories:
Targeted Prevention
Brief Services
Counselling and Therapy
Family/Caregiver Capacity Building and Support
Specialized Consultation and Assessments
Crisis Support Services
Intensive Treatment Services (including community based In-Home and In-School programs, Day Treatment programs and Intensive Out-of-Home programs)
Additional services may be offered to meet the needs of children, youth and families.
Lead Agency Consortium (LAC)
We’re ‘Better Together’
At the provincial level, senior leaders of Ontario’s Lead Agencies, including Lynwood Charlton Centre, work together in a Lead Agency Consortium (LAC) to coordinate efforts, advocate on behalf of Ontario’s CYMHA service system, and collaborate with other service sectors to implement the Roadmap to Wellness and related system-transformation work.
The LAC is committed to the goal of continually improving child and youth mental health and addiction services in Ontario so that children and youth and their families receive the right services for their unique needs at the right time and in the right place.
To read the LAC Provincial Priorities Report, please click here.
To date, the initiatives include:
Ontario Intensive Treatment Program (OITP)
One Stop Talk/Parlez Maintenant (OST/PM)
Right Time, Right Care
One Stop Talk
We are proud partners of One Stop Talk, a free virtual “walk-in” counselling program to connect children, youth and their families with more convenient and timely ways to access mental health counselling no matter where they live.
Children, youth and their families can talk to a clinician by phone, video conference, text and chat without an appointment from anywhere in the province.
-
In 2020, with an ongoing mental health crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, waitlists for mental health counselling and clinical support for children, youth, and their families in Ontario continued to grow.
During this challenging time, the provincial Lead Agency Consortium (LAC), a group of 31 collaborating organizations, came together to develop One Stop Talk/Parlons maintenant (OST/PM).
This group had a big, bold idea: to create a virtual counselling service for young people, so they could receive mental health support no matter where they are.
Now, One Stop Talk offers quick access to high-quality support anywhere in Ontario. If more help is needed, they can guide children and youth to the right local agency for additional support. The service aims to provide a consistent and reliable way to access mental health care for kids and teens across the province.
This service, funded by the Ministry of Health, is part of Ontario’s plan (the Roadmap to Wellness) to make mental health care easier to access. It’s all about making sure young people get the right kind of support when and where they need it.
-
Any child or young person under 18 years of age in Ontario can use One Stop Talk to talk to a therapist for about an hour and get connected to ongoing supports, if needed.
Parents/caregivers are welcome to connect to the service with their child to ensure access.
The One Stop Talk chat and service are available in English and French. If neither of these is a preferred language, an interpreter can be requested.
No matter race, orientation, origin or identity, if a child or youth is struggling, there is no issue is too big or small.
Please note: One Stop Talk is not a crisis line.
-
One Stop Talk connects child, youth and families with a team of therapists who are registered health professionals that can provide psychotherapy services.
One Stop Talk therapists are experts in giving focused help in a single session, and they regularly undergo reviews and meet with supervisors to make sure they’re offering the best care.
One Stop Talk also has a working group of mental health professionals dedicated to continuous improvement and skill development of the team.
-
To connect a with a therapist, call 1-855-416-TALK (8255) or go to: https://onestoptalk.ca/
Monday to Friday
12pm – 8pm ESTSaturday
12pm – 4pm ESTTo make sure you get a session, please connect at least one hour before closing. Statutory holidays may affect these hours.
Step 1: Welcome Chat
When you contact One Stop Talk through the website or by calling in, an automated greeter will welcome you and ask a couple of questions to ensure you receive the best support.
Step 2: You’ll get paired with a therapist
You will be connected to a registered therapist in under 5-minutes for a session. Sessions are always free and usually last up to one-hour.
Step 3: Talk and Plan
During your time with the therapist, you (as a young person/family member) will talk about what is going on and how you are feeling. Together you’ll create a plan that will support you to continue to work through your issues/feelings after the session.
Step 4: Connect for Ongoing Support
If additional or ongoing services are needed, your therapist will offer to connect you to a One Stop Talk navigator. If you agree, the navigator will directly connect you to appropriate services. Before the session ends, a referral will be sent to another organization to connect you and/or your child with the services they need.
Even after this, you can all as many times as you need to talk to a therapist.
Have questions? Email: communications@onestoptalk.ca
Youth and Family Engagement
At Lynwood Charlton Centre, we are committed to meaningful engagement with children, youth, and families to better understand, improve, and build on our services and Hamilton’s child and youth mental health system.
-
In simple terms: It’s shifting from a model of "we know what's best for you" to "let's figure out what's best together."
Youth and family engagement (in the context of professional care) is the intentional, meaningful, and ongoing partnership between mental health providers, youth, and their families. It is the cornerstone of modern, effective, and humane mental health care, ensuring that support is not just clinically sound, but also personally meaningful and empowering for those it is designed to serve.
It means recognizing that youth and families are the true experts on their own lives, experiences, and needs. Instead of being passive recipients of care, they are active, empowered leaders and co-designers in their healing journey, at both the individual treatment level and the organizational/system level.
-
Youth and Family Engagement involves action at multiple levels:
At the Individual Care Level:
Co-creating treatment plans: Goals and strategies are developed with youth and family, not for them.
Shared decision-making: We offer options and expertise, and youth/families make informed choices that align with their values, culture and needs.
Authentic communication: We listen to understand, validate concerns, and communicate clearly and transparently.
At the Program/Organizational Level:
Advisory roles: Inviting youth and family members to serve on advisory boards committees, and hiring teams.
Program design and evaluation: Parenting with youth and family to design new services, improve existing ones, and evaluate program effectiveness.
Peer support: Creating opportunities for youth and families to support others and shared experiences.
At the System Level (as Lead Agency):
Advocacy: Amplifying the voices of youth and families to influence policy and funding decisions.
Community outreach: Ensuring services are designed to be accessible and welcoming to all in our community.
-
Engagement is critically important because it leads to significantly better outcomes and a more effective, responsive system:
Improves treatment: When care plans are relevant and respectful of a family’s culture and preferences, they are more likely to be followed, leading to better results.
Empowers youth and families: It builds their skills, confidence, and self-efficacy, turning them from “patients” into active agents of their own well-being. This is healing in itself.
Builds trust and reduces stigma: Collaborative relationships break down power dynamics and build trust, making it easier for youth and families to seek and stay in care.
Creates better services: Who better to inform the design of mental health services than the people who use them? Their lived experiences leads to more accessible, relevant, and innovative programs.
Promotes equity: It ensures services are culturally competent and responsive to the unique needs of diverse communities, helping to dismantle barriers to care.
-
At the Individual Care Level:
We recognize that children, youth, and families know themselves best and bring their own unique knowledge, experiences, strengths, and skills to their journey to mental health and well-being. Therefore, we strive to work in partnership with children, youth, and families in all aspects of the care they receive.
At the Program/Organizational Level:
We understand that engaging youth and their families at all levels of our organization will help ensure that our services remain child, youth and family centered. That’s why we are committed to creating opportunities for youth and families to share their voices and perspectives in ways that have a meaningful impact. This may include helping make decisions about new or changing programs, how services look and feel, or working with staff and leadership to impact change.
At the System Level (as Lead Agency):
We take an active role in ensuring that children, youth, and families are connected to community-wide engagement opportunities that help make a difference to our local child and youth mental health system. This can mean connecting with other youth, families, agencies, or community partners to improve our system and make a genuine impact.
