The Family Council

Staff pocket guide to services for families

The Family Council is a non-profit organization, which has board of directors made up of family members of those who have experienced mental health and addiction issues. Organizationally separate from CAMH, the council works primarily within CAMH, across all the CAMH sites. They liaise with the Community Support and Research Unit to chair the family-centred care initiative across CAMH. The Family Council is a member-driven organization; currently its membership is about 140 family members.

The Family Council believes families are critically important to an individual’s healing from mental health and addiction problems and that families have their own unique needs for services and support.

The council provides the following services for spouses/ partners, siblings, parents, grandparents and friends of people who have mental health and addiction issues:

Systemic advocacy through:

• seeking the opinions of families and striving to represent families’ wishes at CAMH
• advocating for family-based services at CAMH
• providing family members opportunities to represent family interests on CAMH committees, work groups and task forces
• advocacy for families in municipal, provincial and federal policy initiatives.

Advocacy for individual family members

Learning opportunities (e.g., educational forums)

In-person and over-the-phone peer support

• through the Family Resource Centre, a volunteer program operated by family members.

Contacts:
Betty Miller (ext. 6499, 7160)
Beth Jacob (ext. 6490)
Family Resource Centre (ext. 4015)

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