Social Workers are integral members of all clinical interdisciplinary teams at CAMH. They are employed in management leadership capacities, in education and training, in policy development and dissemination, as well as research. There are approximately 160 social workers at CAMH.

There are many CAMH-wide clinical priority areas that social workers contribute to along with client-centered care. These include diversity, patient/staff safety, reducing stigma, concurrent disorders capacity building and providing ways to include families into the system. Social workers perform a range of roles, depending upon the programs and teams on which they work.

CAMH provides a variety of programs for families at each of its sites, as well as at satellite offices. Many of these interventions are facilitated by social workers.

CAMH requires that all social workers be registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. As with all regulated health professionals at CAMH, social workers must provide annual proof of membership in good standing with the College. For information regarding this College, see www.ocswssw.org. Many social workers at CAMH also participate in the provincial social work association, www.oasw.org.

Social Work has an active student education and training program. There are three educational coordinators at CAMH for the social work discipline. Karen Fournier, RSW administers all of the student training opportunities at our College Street site, Elizabeth Holmes, RSW coordinates all training at our Queen Street site, and Evelyn Neilas RSW, takes care of training in our addiction programs at the Russell Street site. CAMH provides, field placements for students, from social work departments, at the Masters level from the University of Toronto, York University, Wilfrid Laurier, Smith College in Boston, and Ryerson University among others.

All the educational coordinators work together to provide student seminars and training throughout the academic year. Recently, many social work staff have been recruited from the ranks of our students.

There is a Social Work Executive Council at CAMH, chaired by the Social Worker in Chief, Colleen Kelly RSW, and all social workers are invited to be members of this Council. There is the Social Work Staff Development Committee which organizes a development program for students and staff throughout the year. The Executive Council also oversees a number of other committees where social workers can become involved in, such as mentorship, research and peer networking. All of these activities provide a means for social workers to connect with each other and with the discipline throughout CAMH.

Social workers have cross appointments at the University of Toronto, including departments of Social Work and Psychiatry.

Contact Information

Colleen Kelly, MSW RSW
Social Worker in Chief
416-535-8501 Ext. 36758
Email: colleen.kelly@camh.ca

Karen Fournier, MSW RSW
Educational Coordinator (College Street Site – Mental Health)
416-535-8501 Ext. 39420
Email: karen.fournier@camh.ca

Elizabeth Holmes, MSW RSW
Educational Coordinator (Queen Street Site – Mental Health)
416-535-8501 ext. 2465
Email: elizabeth.holmes@camh.ca

Jodi Wolff, MSW RSW
Educational Coordinator (Russell Street Site – Addiction)
416-535-8501 Ext. 6097
Email: jodi.wolff@camh.ca