Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition

Dr. George Foussias

Co-Director, Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition

At the Slaight Centre, we know early intervention for emerging psychosis is crucial.

Welcome to CAMH’s Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition, funded by a visionary $10-million gift from the Slaight Family Foundation.

At the Slaight Centre, we know early intervention for emerging psychosis is crucial. But we need to improve existing treatments, since only limited progress has been made over recent decades.

Through early intervention we can step in before the illness progresses with timely access and evidence-based care. We can reduce illness severity, improve outcomes and promote brain development.

We also know that recovery extends beyond a diagnosis and medication schedule. We are working to improve existing treatments and to develop new approaches for unmet needs.

Our transformative research brings together clinicians, scientists from complementary specialties, youth and their families to advance treatment innovation, early detection and identifying risk and resilience factors. When the findings come in, our goal is to immediately implement them in clinical practice.

A small change in a young person's care can make a big difference. By combining our efforts and resources, we have the potential to radically transform mental health care for youth and emerging adults.

Dr. Nicole Kozloff

Co-Director, Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition

As the largest program of our kind in Canada, we feel an immense responsibility to the patients and families we serve.

At CAMH’s Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition, we are keenly aware that three-quarters of mental illness starts by 24 years old. We are driven to improve diagnosis and treatment of serious mental illness in young people because we know we can change lives.

This starts in our centre, where the integration of clinical services and research fosters innovation. These services include early psychosis intervention, an evidence-based model for young people experiencing psychosis and their families delivered in the form of coordinated specialty care, and a clinical high risk program for young people at risk of developing psychosis. We collaborate with other CAMH centres to study risk factors for psychosis in children and youth and opportunities for prevention. Engaging young people and their families in our work helps ensure that our research and clinical services are meaningful to the people who matter most.

As the largest program of its kind in Canada, we feel an immense responsibility to the patients and families we serve. We are also committed to research and knowledge sharing that improves services beyond our own programs, so that young people and their families across the system are offered the same high-quality care.