Our Clients

Elizabeth House helps pregnant women and parents of children 0-5 who need help adjusting to their role as parents. We help pregnant teens and mothers to be of any age as well as fathers (including single parent families) that have at least one child aged 5 and under. It is the age of the child that determines whether we can provide services to a family.

About the Clients We Serve

Elizabeth House serves a client population with multiple challenging and complex needs. Many of the clients we serve are likely to have experienced the following conditions or situations during their childhood or adult life:

  • History of Youth Protection involvement (for themselves or their children)
  • Separations from primary attachment figures and/or disruptions in care
  • Family disorganization/dysfunction
  • Absence of positive role models and lack of support
  • Physical, sexual and/or psychological abuse
  • Social isolation
  • Substance abuse
  • Experiences with conjugal violence
  • Mental health or behavioural issues
  • Frequent moves and instability
  • Lack of independent living skills
  • Intellectual or learning disability

To know more about the role of Elizabeth House in permanency planning, click here.

General Admission Criteria

The client must:

  • Be pregnant and be experiencing significant difficulty in adjusting to pregnancy, or, be a parent (mother or father) of a child between the ages of 0 to 5 years and be experiencing significant difficulty in assuming the parental role;
  • Be motivated to improve her/his parenting and independent living skills;
  • Be prepared to work in collaboration with Elizabeth House and other service providers;
  • Be able to effectively communicate in the English language;
  • Require second-line services that cannot be provided on a first-line basis from another establishment or community organization;
  • Have legal status to reside in Canada and/or have a valid Quebec medicare number.

Specific Admission Criteria

Residential Services (Pre-Natal and Mother-Child Programs)
The client must:

  • Identify as female;
  • Have reached the second trimester of pregnancy (for the prenatal program);
  • Have the ability to learn and apply new knowledge and skills;
  • Be able to manage in a group living environment;
  • Not have a condition that impedes her ability to function, such as an active substance abuse problem, or an untreated mental health problem;
  • Have consent from her parent(s) or tutor if she is a minor (with the exception of certain clients followed under Youth Protection);
  • Agree to receive social services from the CSSS Cavendish, if she does not have a social worker from another organization;
  • Receive services from a Centre de Réadaptation en Deficience Intellectuelle (CRDI), if she has an intellectual deficiency.

Family Assistance Program

The client must:

  • Be willing to receive first-line services from her/his local CLSC or other community organization(s), in conjunction with services from Elizabeth House;
  • Be willing to include her/his child’s other parent and/or other members of her/his household in interventions, where appropriate.

Education Program

The client must:

  • Identify as female;
  • Be eligible to attend an English Youth Sector school;
  • Be 18 years of age or under as of June 30th in the year of registration.
  • Clients aged 19 may be accepted under certain conditions.

To use our services

If you are pregnant, or if you are a young parent, and wondering if Elizabeth House can help you, click here.

For more information about our programs and services, click here.