June’s Story: How Integrated Mental Health Care Helps Families Thrive
March 7, 2026
At Yorktown Family Services, early intervention can change the course of a life. Our Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) Program — a violence prevention program launched in March 2020 — works to interrupt the pathway to grievance-fuelled or targeted violence before harm occurs. Through a psychosocial and interdisciplinary approach, the ETA team engages individuals at risk, helping them understand the factors driving their behaviour and supporting them in building healthier ways to cope, connect, and move forward.
Using a psychosocial and interdisciplinary approach, ETA engages individuals at risk, works to understand their personal and social circumstances, and helps them find new ways to cope, connect, and heal. Since its inception, the ETA team has supported more than 400 people and their families across Ontario and trained over 6,000 teachers, social service professionals, and healthcare workers on how to identify and respond to early warning signs of violence.
Walter’s Story
Walter* was referred to Yorktown’s ETA program by the RCMP’s Specialized Integrated Interview Team in August 2023. He had come to their attention after a member of the public reported that Walter had created a manifesto and expressed violent intentions toward his school. An investigation uncovered “school shooter” videos on his computer, and Walter was charged with making threats while under ongoing investigation.
When Walter first began working with his ETA Engagement and Intervention Support Worker, he was distrustful and withdrawn. Over time, a relationship of trust began to form. Walter shared that he had been bullied at school — “the staff do nothing about it” — and that he felt like “the forgotten one” in his family. Online, he found acceptance in a toxic virtual community that encouraged him to harm others, even giving him explicit instructions on how to carry out violence.
Walter was connected to an ETA Program Therapist, who helped him manage his thoughts and strengthen his coping skills. Through consistent engagement in the ETA program, Walter began to reflect on his experiences and his emotions. He admitted that while the online group made him feel accepted, he recognized that it was “toxic” and destructive.
Today, Walter has disengaged from the online community that once influenced him. He continues to meet with his therapist and is developing healthier relationships, improved social skills, and greater insight into the factors that once put him at risk.
Walter’s journey illustrates what ETA is designed to do — create understanding, interrupt the pathway to violence, and offer people a chance to rewrite their story before it’s too late.
Preventing violence requires more than reacting after harm has occurred. It means recognizing early warning signs, supporting individuals who are struggling, and working together as communities to interrupt the pathways that can lead to tragedy. Yorktown’s ETA violence prevention program demonstrates the impact of early intervention by helping individuals build healthier coping strategies, stronger connections, and safer futures.
To learn more about Yorktown’s ETA Program or how our team works with communities to prevent targeted violence, visit our ETA website.
*Name has been changed for privacy.