Youth Community Services FAQs

• Does my child need to have a PMHS therapist to receive YCS services?

  No, you do not need a PMHS Therapist to receive YCS services; you can have an outside therapist and still receive all YCS services - however we will assign a PMHS Therapist for clinical oversight during Person Centered Plan meetings. But they won't be involved with client's normal therapy sessions. 

• Do I need my child to be in YCS services to receive Parent Peer Support services?

  No, you can request Parent Peer Support services without the need to qualify for YCS services. If you feel like your child is benefiting from Parent Peer Support services, and really could use more Community Services, you could always request YCS services later, and there would be no added difficulties with your child already receiving Parent Peer Support services.

• My child is in Youth Community Services, which we haven’t used much, but we’re now facing urgent challenges. Can I request PRTF for them?

  You can always request PRTF for your child by calling the number on the back of your insurance card. However, it is often difficult to be accepted into PRTF without some history of services being provided within the community by the YCS team. It is recommended you try your best, within your capability, to have your child make as many sessions with the YCS team as possible. This will go a long way to determining whether your PRTF request is accepted or denied. It is also recommended you utilize crisis services whenever appropriate; the more it is shown you have utilized the full gambit of services, the better chances you will have in a PRTF request being approved. 

• In the Western Region, there is a lot of distance between offices, and a lot of ground to cover. Will my child really be able to receive services if we live so far out?

  The Western Youth Community Services team do face unique challenges in the amount of ground being covered, with such a low population density. However, we will do everything in our ability to make sure we cover all ground within our region and have clinically trained staff within a great team who are adaptable, sharp, and capable. We take pride in being at the top of our game when it comes to navigating the travel and time restraints naturally incurred in this region, and to make sure we provide the best services possible to the most number of clients in need of services. 

• My child previously received Youth Community Services and struggled after having three different Case Managers quickly. They take time to warm up—should I expect the same now?

  There is unfortunately a lot of turnovers within the Mental Health field. However, I believe we have a very devoted, dedicated, and bought-in team who really pour their hearts and minds into providing top notch Mental Health Services to our communities. I cannot speak about the difficulties you and your child experienced in the past, but I can assure you that we currently have a really strong team who is consistent and intentional in the quality of care provided. PMHS has been growing, adapting, and learning along with the rest of the country when it comes to Mental Health and what works best for both the staff and the clients, we provide services too. I believe we have a truly unique and advanced wholistic hierarchy and system from the top down that allows us to stay focused on providing quality wholistic care, while ever growing to keep up with the expanding national understanding of mental health well-being.