Call immediately to 519-433-0334.

Call our intake team at 519-433-0334 or visit one of our Talk-in Clinics. No appointment is needed.

We serve primarily the counties of Middlesex, Elgin, Oxford, Huron, Perth, Grey, and Bruce. We also accept referrals for youth with highly complex needs from other regions in and beyond Ontario. Our Youth Justice program serves an extended area including Lambton, Kent, Essex and other areas of Ontario.

We admit clients with behavioural and emotional difficulties (i.e. aggression, emotional dysregulation or self-destructiveness); acute family crisis; and/or neuro-developmental concerns. Our programs focus on adolescents who may be involved in multiple social support systems and still experience difficulties in their lives with family, school, peers, or others in the community.

See how we fit into Ontario’s model for levels of service for Children & Youth Mental Health.

Our programs are unable to accommodate clients who are actively suicidal or in the acute phase of a major psychiatric disorder (i.e. schizophrenia). Youth who have a history of such difficulties, but have been stabilized, may be admitted if the care team is able to arrange adequate resources for support. Clients must also demonstrate some capacity to function safely in a group.

There is no direct cost to parents or youth for our services. We do expect that parents in most cases will contribute the costs of their child’s personal care items and medical expenses if they have insurance coverage.

Our principal funding is provided by Ontario’s Ministry of Children, Community & Social Services through their Child & Family Intervention and Youth Justice Service divisions, and through referrals from regional agencies such as Children’s Aid Societies and the Community Service Coordination Network (CSCN) serving London-Middlesex, Elgin, Huron, Oxford and Perth Counties.

We have 3 primary locations:

• 520 Hamilton Road, London, ON
• 218 St. George Street, London, ON
• 26996 New Ontario Road, R.R. # 1, Ailsa Craig, ON

All staff have post secondary training at the College or University level. All mental health counselors/therapists have a Master’s degree. Craigwood also provides extensive training for staff on a regular basis.

Each residential program is staffed by a team of youth workers 24 hours/day, a Program Supervisor and Master’s level clinical therapist overseen by a Program Director.

Using clinically validated tools for assessment and tracking, Craigwood has traditionally met or exceeded the provincial norms in positive outcomes for youth and families.

We also earn very high rating in our client satisfaction surveys.

To make a complaint regarding Craigwood services contact us at: 519-432-2623. Someone will return your message within 2 business days. More information is available here on this website.

We contribute staff and resources to several joint services and research projects with our sister agencies in the region. We also sit at several action tables dealing with current and emerging needs in the broader mental health community.

We do not have a psychiatrist on staff but we do have an arrangement where we can access psychiatric supports for both assessment and emergency response.

If your child is in one of our residential services, contact with legal guardians is supported and encouraged. We believe this interaction is essential for success when that expected outcome is family reunification. Restrictions to this are only in the event of legal access and consent limitations duly authorized by a court.

When a Children’s Aid Society is involved in care for the youth, some limitations may apply to parent contact on a situation-to-situation basis.

The average stays for our more intensive services are 6-9 months for residential and 1-2 school terms for day treatment.

Youth in our Ailsa Craig residential program attend classes on-site, tailored to their needs with a full-time teacher and resource staff as part of the W.D. Sutton School of the Thames Valley District School Board. Many of our Ailsa Craig clients are also able to attend regular classes at local schools in the community. Clients at our St. George Street home generally continue to attend classes at their current school. Our community programs are organized to support continuity of a youth’s education.

Yes, we can make this accommodation if you require it.

All of our services are available to those who reside anywhere in Middlesex County. We have arrangements with five locations in Middlesex County providing weekly talk-in clinics. Many of our other services are mobile enough to be offered closer to home for our county clients.

Only our Ailsa Craig site has wheelchair access for visitors (not for residential clients). We do have arrangements to meet with clients who have mobility limitations with partner agencies.

We are prepared to provide some limited assistance in this regard.

We welcome parents to our talk-in services where the concerns expressed are related to a child or youth in the home.

Not always. Although some of the Craigwood counselors are regulars at certain clinic sites, we do not guarantee the same counselor each time.