Accessing Services - The Intake Process
How do you contact us?
Individuals may access services at the Children's Centre Thunder Bay by contacting us directly at 343-5000 during our hours of operation Monday to Thursday 8:30 am to 6:00 pm and Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
Who can make a referral?
- Parents and guardians may call the Centre to request services for themselves and/or child(ren)
- Parents or caregivers may request parenting services for themselves
- Children who are 12 years of age and older may call the Centre directly to request services for themselves
- The majority of referrals for service are received and processed by the Centre's Intake Services
- Some services such as Youth Justice or Supervised Access have other intake processes. See those services for more information.
- In situations where parents are separated, referrals for child mental health services are only accepted from parents who have legal custody; where there is joint custody and the child is under the age of 12 years, both parents must consent to the referral
- It is important to note that third party referrals are not accepted; however information may be collected from third party sources as part of the intake process. Information including reports, assessments or referral packages sent by other service providers such as child welfare, physicians, hospitals, school etc. are an important part of the intake process, however this information will not be used or processed by the Intake Worker until the parent, legal guardian or child makes a request for services directly and consents to the use of this information
What is the Intake Screening process?
When you call, your call will be answered by reception who will ask a few questions and then direct your call to the appropriate person.
For intake requests, a designated Intake Worker is available to screen all general service inquiries and new requests for services during the following hours of operation:
- Monday to Thursday: 9:00 am to 1:00 p.m.
During the screening appointment, the Intake Worker will gather basic information to determine what service might meet the presenting needs. At this point one of four things will happen:
- If we cannot help, you will be provided with information and be directed to a more appropriate service in the community
- If we feel our Walk-in Counselling Clinic will meet your needs, we will provide you with information and direct you to that resource
- If we feel we can assist you and depending on the service identified as meeting your needs, a brief intake may be completed
- If we feel you require a more comprehensive intake, an intake appointment will be booked where more in-depth information is gathered.
During an intake, the worker may ask you a lot of questions and complete some assessment tools. Please remember that these help us determine what service will best meet your needs. Also, if a parent is referring a youth age 12 and over, the youth must participate in the intake process.
Once an intake is completed and you are matched with an appropriate service, you will be placed on a waitlist. For some services the waitlist is not too long (a month or two), but for other services the waitlist can be 6 months or longer.
Finally, if this situation is an emergency or crisis, click here for more information.
