Service providers surveyed about their need for public mental health information indicated they lacked information about mental health services in Ontario for clients and families. Thus the idea for Challenges & Choices: Finding Mental Health Services in Ontario was conceived.

While this guide is written in plain language and directed to clients and families, you, as service providers, will no doubt find this information useful--both for your own background knowledge, and to share with clients and families. The size of the pages and the binding were selected specifically to make it easy for you to photocopy sections of the book for clients. You may also want to keep a copy of the book in your waiting room, or have it as a reference guide for people coming to your office. Regardless, our primary goal is to see that as many people as possible benefit from the information in this book.

Actual production of the guide took close to a year. It was reviewed extensively by a working group at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; by experts working at various mental health agencies and organizations across the province; and through interviews with clients, family members and the general public. Reviewers represented a broad range of backgrounds; for example, they come from rural and urban areas across Ontario and from diverse ethnocultural and racial groups. And they have varying experiences and expertise.

We hope you and the clients you share this with find it to be a helpful resource.