About CASA
Alberta’s Missing Middle
CASA Mental Health is an established non-profit organization delivering holistic, culturally safe wrap-around mental health services to Albertans aged three to 18 and their families. CASA provides mental health service to the missing middle – mental health treatment for diagnosed children and youth, in between prevention and promotion in primary and community care, and acute treatment in hospital.
CASA’s team of mental health professionals are trauma experts committed to delivering service in collaboration with community partners. This includes assessment and treatment for up to 4,000 children, youth, and their families each year, from community outreach settings to intensive treatment programs.
CASA is:
- Incorporated under the Companies Act of Alberta as a not-for-profit, charitable organization.
- Governed by a volunteer board of directors.
- A treatment, learning and research facility in partnership with the University of Alberta and Alberta Health Services.
- Accredited by Accreditation Canada.
- Staffed by teams that include psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, mental health therapists, social workers, occupational therapists, child care counsellors, teachers, and administrative support staff.
Our Story
Prior to 1988, northern Alberta families with children facing mental health issues had limited options. While there were services for children in government care, programs for children living with their families were rare, and parents needed new programs to meet their children’s evolving mental health care needs.
A small group of parents, working with a team of psychiatrists, joined forces to provide children with high-quality care in a community setting. CASA was born and quickly expanded to meet the mental health needs of children and their families from Edmonton and central and northern Alberta.
True to its roots, CASA Mental Health continues today to focus on wrap-around solutions that incorporate the whole family, striving for child and adolescent services for all.
What does CASA stand for?
We get this question a lot! After CASA formed in 1988, it stood for Child and Adolescent Services Association, however, after time, the organization kept the acronym and changed its name to CASA Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health to better reflect our work. This lasted until 2022-23 when the organization simplified its name to CASA Mental Health – honouring our past and looking toward the future. Based on our 2022-2027 roadmap and vision, we strive for a community with Child and Adolescent Services for All.
Vision + Mission
Our Mission
To build resilience through holistic, evidence-informed and compassionate care, and to advocate for children, youth and families with mental illness.
Our Vision
A community where all children, youth and their families are provided with timely mental health care and empowered to thrive.
Our Values
Community: We believe each person’s community is unique, and is needed to support the mental health and well-being of those we serve.
Child-centred and family-inclusive care: As partners in care, we build services around the specific needs of each child and family.
Collaboration: We work together to better serve children, youth and families.
Equity, diversity and inclusion: We create a culturally safe environment that acknowledges and respects the lived experience of every person and community.
Outcomes-based accountability: We commit to and deliver effective outcomes as both a care provider and employer.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity
Equity, diversity and inclusivity is a foundational value at CASA. As a provider of mental health services for children, youth and their families, we want to create a culturally safe environment that acknowledges, honours and respects the lived experience of every person and community. We believe that organizations can be powerful platforms for social change, and that we are responsible for a future that is more diverse, equitable and inclusive for all.
Read CASA’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusivity (PDF).
Truth and Reconciliation
CASA is on a transformational journey inspired by our vision. An integral part of achieving this vision is focused on being deliberate in learning from the past, acting in the present and creating for the future when it comes to the mental health of Indigenous children, youth, families and communities. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued 94 calls to action urging people and organizations across Canada to work together in a good way towards reconciliation.
Read CASA’s commitment to mental health services for Indigenous children, youth, families and communities (PDF).
CASA leaders met with 50 organizations and more than 320 individuals in 2021 to create a new roadmap for the future of mental health service for children, youth and families in Alberta. The roadmap focuses on the following areas over the next five years:
Leaders in delivering child-centred, family inclusive mental health services
- We will create a safe, diverse and inclusive workplace.
- We will become a nationally recognized learning and teaching organization.
Programming efficacy and relevance
- We are a provider of safe and culturally sensitive mental health services.
- We will be a model organization in delivering trauma-informed, wrap-around mental health programming for children and their families.
Financial health
- We will maintain financial stability through diverse funding sources.
- We will be a nationally identifiable and trusted organization.
Stories
CASA’s vision is a community where all children, youth and families are provided timely access to mental health care and empowered to thrive. Learn more about CASA kids, families, staff, donors and programs.
