Caroline Families First is a collaboration between the Caroline Family Health Team, Burlington Family Health Team, local pediatricians and ROCK. The program uses an evidenced-based Wraparound model of care for families who are struggling with mental health needs. Referrals are made from physicians that are connected to the program and self-referrals from families who are connected to one of these physicians. The staff is made up of Care Coordinators and Caregiver Peer Support Providers, who work closely with each family to achieve their unique goals, build a team of supports, and connections to services in their community. A major goal is to increase overall wellness across the family as a whole unit. Families are expected to see program staff weekly to biweekly, and could include more than one meeting per week if required. The program also conducts Wraparound meetings focused on bringing the team of supports together to coordinate care. Group offerings are also available within the program from a peer support lens such as Coffee and Chat groups, and Wellness Recovery Action Plan, an 8-week series that focuses on caregiver wellness.

Peer support at ROCK is a supportive relationship between people who have lived experience in common. The Peer Support Provider offers emotional and social support to caregivers who share the common experience of living with and supporting youth with mental health and or complex needs.

Our dedicated Peer Support Providers are available to offer support strategies, wellness workshops, resources, tips and strategies, or for a casual conversation.

ROCK has Peer Support Providers in a variety of programs to meet caregivers and families needs, including Caroline Families First (CFF), Community and Youth Development, and Autism Services: Urgent Response Services (URS) and Foundational.

Helpful Resources

Click here to register for any of the workshops listed on the calendar below.

Child Life Specialists utilize evidence-based approaches to provide developmentally and psychologically appropriate therapeutic interventions, helping children cope with grief, trauma, illness, injury, disability, and transitions. Key areas of support include managing grief and bereavement, aiding transitions, assisting with family changes, and addressing anxiety and ADHD. Services also cater to specific medical conditions. Emphasis is placed on emotion regulation and coaching, using a developmental context to foster resilience. Therapeutic interventions are often play-based, through therapeutic play, art, and other creative expressive forms. Strength-based and family-centered approaches are used, advocating for the needs of the entire family. Child Life Services focus on supporting children primarily aged birth to 12 years.

Halton Coordinated Service Planning (CSP) is part of the Ontario Complex Special Needs Strategy, ROCK is the Lead for CSP in the Halton Region.

CSP Supports:

  • Complex families who are involved with multiple services.
  • Children and youth with multiple and/or complex needs such as Mental health, Developmental and medical needs.
  • Coordinated Service Planners provide high level of seamless and family-centred care.
  • The Coordinated Service Planner is directly responsible for planning and coordinating child services, in collaboration with the family and other services and supports.

Referrals for this program are made through Access and System Navigation (ASN).

ROCK’S confidential Crisis Line is available 24/7: 905-878-9785 and provides immediate support for children and youth, their parents/caregivers, and community members. For more information visit here.

Here are a few things for you to know:

  1. You can call on your own or with your parent/caregiver.
  2. We keep things confidential – your friends won’t know about it unless you tell them.
  3. Services are free.

ROCK Early Years Services are facilitated by a multidisciplinary team dedicated to nurturing the holistic development of infants and children. This collaborative team approach involves working closely with parents and caregivers to provide comprehensive support tailored to the unique needs of each child. Key components of Early Years Services include: community outreach, brief therapy, assessment, treatment and collaborations with caregivers.

ROCK Early Years Winter and Spring 2026 Training Guide

ROCK’s Intensive Counselling Service (ICS) program provides a
range of intervention and support services to high-need children/
youth (aged 6-17) and their families. Families will typically receive
two to four in-home sessions per week with a member of the ICS
team, for three to six months. Families are expected to participate in
setting goals, strategies and treatment for themselves and their child.
However, the ICS team will work with the family to actively problem solve around barriers to treatment or engagement. Primary program
therapeutic interventions include but not limited to: Emotion Focused
Family Therapy (EFFT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

Psychology Services at ROCK include consultation to internal and external service providers/supports as well as direct consultation to clients, families and caregivers. Psychological services also include direct assessment of clients ages 0-17 where assessment of mental health/social-emotional and/or behavioral concerns is believed to be necessary in order to inform treatment.

Therapy services at ROCK provide assessment and treatment to infants, children, youth and families from infancy to 17 years of age. Therapists collaborate with families to develop a coordinated care plan to meet their needs that will focus on understanding emotions and behaviour, strengthening connections and family relationships, and skill development. Depending on the age of the child, therapy will involve parent, parent-child, or family sessions. Older youth may be seen individually with a focus on identifying and addressing challenging emotions, assessing for risk and safety planning. Clinicians specializing in infant and early childhood, work collaboratively with children and caregivers. Therapy may be offered through single sessions, in-person or virtual brief, and longer-term therapy, which may be 3 months (up to 12 sessions) determined after screening and assessment. Single sessions provide quick access to a single therapeutic conversation that focuses on immediate issues happening now. For many, a single session is all that’s needed.  Therapy services may also be offered to groups of youth, parents, or families. This service is available to children and youth up to their 18th birthday, and their parents, caregivers, or service provider. Adolescents aged 12 to 17 years may access this service independently.

Building resilience and hope after trauma, together.

Our trauma treatment services are available to support children and adolescents who have experienced either a single event or traumatic experiences over their development. Services are focused on helping children, youth, and their families recover from the impact of trauma. Families can access trauma treatment services through ROCK’s trauma consultation process by calling the Access Line. Caregivers can call to discuss registering for a 1.5-hour introduction to trauma workshop “When Something Traumatic Has Happened: Where do we start?” Caregivers can attend a 5-week psycho-educational group “The Effects of Trauma on Children: An Educational Group for Parents and Caregivers” that is essential for supporting children and youth with recovery from trauma. Assessment, Therapy, and Trauma-Specific Treatment focus on recovery from various forms of trauma. We provide recovery-based interventions that promote coping and healing. Please speak to the Access and System Navigation Team via the Access Line for access to trauma services at ROCK.

Assessment and Treatment for Concerning Sexual Behaviours

We work with families within the therapeutic process to provide support and education regarding concerning sexual behaviours. We work with the child or youth in talk therapy on treatment goals that result in behavioural change. We strive to enhance protective factors for the child, youth, and family. This service is provided by mental health clinicians.

Here’s How to Get Started

Call our Access Line

For more information about ROCK’s services or to book an appointment, please call our Access Line at 289-266-0036 or chat with Quinn from Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

OR

Web-based Referral Form

To send a web referral, complete the form here.

We see children and their families for a wide range of reasons, including:

  • Children and youth experiencing anxiety, depression, or other mental health concerns, including the impact of COVID-19.
  • Strong feelings that are impacting behaviour at home, school, or in the community.
  • Parents/caregivers/guardians struggling with their child/youth behaviours.
  • Children, youth, and families experiencing significant challenges due to a change ,such as a new school, a new relationship, or a new community.
  • Challenges for children and youth that impact how they feel about themselves.
  • Issues for youth and/or their parents/caregivers relating to LGBTQ2S+, including gender identity and sexual orientation.
  • Relationship issues.
  • Youth experiencing difficulties at school or with parents.
  • Grief, loss, or the impact of trauma.