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Dufferin Wellington Special Needs Strategy – Communique #10, October 2017

November 1, 2017

Special Needs Strategy vision

“An Ontario where children and youth with special needs get the timely and effective services they need to participate fully at home, at school, in the community, and as they prepare to achieve their goals for adulthood.”

What’s new from Dufferin Wellington Special Needs Strategy Table?

On September 1, 2017 the Integrated Rehabilitation (IR) Steering Committee received a memo from the four provincial Ministries responsible for the Ontario Special Needs Strategy. It provided all service delivery areas in the province with an update regarding the status of IR services planning proposals. A key message was that moving forward they will be providing overarching provincial direction and policy development and that all local IR planning tables are to discontinue further work on their final IR proposals until this information has been received. The ministries are establishing a provincial advisory group that will include clinical experts, sector partners and education stakeholders to provide advice on key issues.

One of the initial directions provided is that effective April 1st, 2018, existing contracts for School Health Support services currently provided by Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) will transfer to Children’s Treatment Centres across the province. This means that the contracts in our region will transfer as follows:

This is an interim phase that will allow the province to develop and provide further direction regarding funding, a tiered service delivery model for rehabilitation services (Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech and Language Services), and technology and accountability measures.

There will be no change to service delivery during the interim period and families will continue to receive support from the same providers.

This is considered the first phase in the move to a seamless, integrated service system that will better support children’s development and make it easier for families to access services. The second phase of implementation will follow as the Ministries provide additional direction over the next year.

The Ministries told us that they appreciate the collaborative work completed over the past two years in communities across the province as sector partners engaged in proposal development and remain committed to implementing IR and getting it right for children and youth with special needs and their families.

As a Steering Committee, we remain committed to working with the ministries, community partners, children, youth and families to ensure a smooth and seamless transition. In Dufferin/ Wellington the Steering Committee is comprised of:

We invite you to continue to check our website for up to date information at: www.dufferinwellingtonspecialneedsstrategy.weebly.com or the Ministries’ website at: http://specialneedsstrategy.children.gov.on.ca/login/. This website is open to anyone who wishes to view it and its many resources, but first you will need to register by creating a login and password. 

Chris Hartley, Chair Integrated Rehabilitation Steering Committee
[email protected]

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