City agrees to explore options around $20K support for youth mental health services

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The City of Fort St. John council has voted to explore options to support Saplings Mental Health Services’ youth mental health program. 

At the end of the January 26th regular council meeting, Councillor Trevor Bolin put forward a notice of motion regarding youth mental health services in the community:

“That Council allocate $20,000 in the 2026 operating budget to support operational funding for the Saplings Mental Health Services program in Fort St. John to ensure continued services for youth mental health, and that council and staff work with Sapling[s] Mental Health Services to identify and secure additional financing opportunities for sustained services in the community.”

A notice of motion is a written announcement from an elected government official which is given as either a pre-amble to a request to staff or a request for a report on a certain topic. 

This comes after concerns were raised about funding for the program in 2025, and two Fort St. John youth passed away over the 2025 Christmas break.

“I think we need to be proactive and not reactive in this situation,” Bolin said. 

When asked by council about the specific number included in the notice, Bolin explained $20,000 was estimated according to the organization’s operating costs over two and a half months for its youth mental health programs. 

Staff told the council they are working with Saplings to attend a meeting with the council to discuss their current operations and needs. 

Councillor Gord Klassen questioned whether the organization required the funding, as Northern Health had assured the council during a previous meeting the contract between Saplings and the health authority would continue.

Klassen also noted Northern Health currently has one individual in the Fort St. John Hospital emergency room, and another being trained, to provide mental health support. 

“From the community’s perspective, I think things are gonna look pretty much exactly the same as they did; Saplings will just take care of the work they were contracted to do in the first place,”  Klassen said. 

During an episode of This Week in the Peace on January 30th, Saplings’ director Julia Hintermeister explained Northern Health was going to be taking over services within the emergency room.

“Moving forward in the future, we will no longer be in the emergency department from the end of March, but we’re still in conversation with Northern Health about what that will look like and how youth can still be supported when they come through the ER,” Hintermeister said. 

During the council meeting, Bolin said: “With recent happenings in our community with regards to youth mental health, there’s certainly a reason to be concerned, so this [funding] would allow staff to allocate those funds from council, come back with a report to council as to how we can further enhance the services they provide in our community.”

Klassen agreed with staff coming to council with a report regarding the organization, but stated he was hesitant about providing funding before said report was prepared and reviewed. 

Bolin clarified he hoped the funding would be set aside for possible future use, rather than immediately used.

“I’m not saying we spend it, I’m saying that it’s allocated, so staff can use that and go forward and bring us back more in depth information.”

Councillor Sarah MacDougall expressed her support for the motion, noting the community would benefit from increased youth mental health services. 

“Our community needs more youth mental health support, not the same amount we’ve been doing,” MacDougall stated. 

“We need [Saplings and Northern Health] working together to build each other up so we have more services for our youth in the community, not the same amount, because what we’ve already had has gotten us to where we are today.” 

Councillor Tony Zabinsky also raised concerns about the community, and questioned whether Northern Health would stick to its timelines regarding funding for Saplings in March. 

“[At the Peace River Regional District board of directors] we’ve had some concerns with Northern Health on what they’ve promised and their delivery dates,” Zabinsky said. 

“I’m not saying they’re not going to deliver…but I have reservations on their timeline on when it actually gets implemented, and this would at least…help out.”

Council ultimately voted to approve the motion, and staff will begin work on a report regarding Saplings and what supports it would benefit from.