NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is promoting her plan to introduce a Universal Mental Health Care plan, if the New Democrats win the upcoming Ontario election.
During a stop in Windsor Monday, Horwath spoke about how the plan would help people in Windsor-Essex, noting that Windsor ranks first in the top 10 longest wait times for youth mental health services in all of Ontario.
For counselling and therapy kids wait 490 days, or 588 days for intensive treatment. For Intensive Case Management, adults in serous distress wait 98 days on average.
While some forms of mental health treatment are covered by the province, such as treatment by a psychiatrist or by a psychologist or social worker within a hospital, services such as private psychotherapy or counselling are not.
The NDP says its plan would save billions of dollars because community care would lessen the need for critical care, and not as much productivity would be lost in the workforce.
Breanna Caverhill, a survivor of gender-based violence, appeared alongside Horwath during her stop in Windsor.
Caverhill says she was assaulted by her ex in October 2018 and has had very fragmented aspects of mental health care.
"It's been quite a roller coaster, I know first hand how much it is so desperately needed and how this is going to have tremendous impacts on people who need it the most in Windsor-Essex," she says.
Caverhill says it should not be so hard to get help.
"I'm a huge advocate for what Andrea is messaging that she is going to bring to this city, we desperately need it," she says. "I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and then nothing. Keeping the same counsellor was a long shot, it should not be that hard."
Horwath says there are people in communities who provide services but you have to pay for it.
"One of the big barriers to achieving service or receiving service is that you have to pull out your credit card and that's just not on for a lot of people," she says. "What we're saying is you just have to pull out your OHIP card and you'll get the supports and services you need."
Horwath announced a plan Sunday that will cover counselling and therapy under OHIP, and expand publicly funded mental health services so they're more accessible, and waits are shorter.
The NDP's Universal Mental Health plan is estimated to cost $1.15 billion when fully implemented.