$193,700 OTF Grant from the Ontario Government Helps FSYR Reduce Wait Times for Mental Health Counselling Services
June 27, 2025
Newmarket/Vaughan, ON: On Wednesday, MPP Dawn Gallagher-Murphy attended the Family Services York Region’s (FSYR) virtual AGM. During the meeting, MPP Gallagher Murphy formally congratulated the group on the work its done in the community thanks to receiving a two-year, $193,700 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) in 2023. Funds from the grant were used to integrate the brief service solution focused model into FSYR’s client service pathways to reduce wait times, improve client experience and client outcomes.
“I’m pleased to see an investment from the Ontario government, through the Ontario Trillium Foundation, to enable the expansion of critical community supports that are focused on real, solution-driven outcomes,” said Dawn Gallagher Murphy, MPP for Newmarket—Aurora. “By prioritizing brief-services intervention, Family Services of York Region is improving the lives of individuals and families as they have successfully managed to significantly reduce wait times for services; subsequently helping to reduce the long-term demand for more intensive and costly services. Our government is committed to supporting families to ensure timely access to the vital mental health and counselling supports that our communities rely upon.”
Through this grant, FSYR embarked on an agency wide two-year intensive training program in narrative/solution focused therapy that will come to an end in September 2025. And as a result of the grant, FSYR retained some of the foremost knowledge experts in the field of Brief Therapy including Jim Duval, Scott Cooper and Stephanie Alderson who provided workshops, intensive trainings, consultations and skills development sessions to FSYR staff over the past two years. The training in Brief Services has provided FSYR’s staff with the creative skills needed to reframe problems in ways that help clients to quickly hear and generate possibilities and solutions The Brief Service model is a consumer driven model that is client centered, and strength based. The model embraces client engagement in every way possible, utilizing every point of client contact as a clinical opportunity to provide support, resources and most importantly hope in addressing client needs and issues.
FSYR knows that when clients are struggling with challenges such as anxiety, depression, family conflict and intimate partner violence, long wait times can result in the deterioration of mental health, and the escalation of family conflict and family violence creating the need for more intensive and costly services.
“The impact of this Ontario Government grant cannot be overstated,” said Elisha Laker, CEO of FSYR. “The average wait time in York Region for a brief service is 186 days. Through this grant we have introduced a process where clients are given a brief service consultation from anywhere between 48 hours and 1 month from the client’s application for service, reducing wait times significantly, and we have consistently received a 95% rating on client satisfaction surveys.”
FSYR is committed to its mission of being a “Responsive, Caring Organization offering Counselling and Outreach Support to Improve Well-Being for All.” If you wish to know more about our services, please visit our website at www.fsyr.ca.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Ontario government with a mission to build healthy and vibrant communities across the province. Last year, OTF invested nearly $105M into 732 community projects and multi-sector partnerships. Projects aim to enhance economic well-being, foster more active lifestyles, support child and youth development, provide spaces for people to come together and connect, and create a more sustainable environment. Visit otf.ca to learn more.