NETWORK E-BULLETIN - APRIL 2010 EDITION

Province Provides Network with Additional Funding and April 2010 Bulletin

Working Together For Kids & Teens with Multiple Special Needs… Children’s Treatment Network is a new service delivery model for kids with multiple special needs in Simcoe and York.  It links over 50 healthcare, education, recreation, social and community services organizations so they can take a team approach to each child’s care. For the first time, parents have one point of contact for a single plan of care for kids from birth to age 19. The Network coordinates services needed and monitors each child’s progress through all the phases of their development.  The Network is also expanding services that are critically needed in the community to bring more services closer to home and help reduce waitlists. Parents and professionals can contact the Network by calling 1-866-377-0286 or online at www.ctn-simcoeyork.ca .

NEWS AT A GLANCE:

• Province Provides Network with Additional Funding for Services
• Network Services Information Kit Available Soon
• IPAC Deloitte Leadership Award Presentation

Province Provides Network with Additional Funding for Services

– Additional $1.16 million will help provide services to more children and reduce wait times –
On April 7, the Honourable Laurel Broten, Minister of Children and Youth Services, announced the province is investing an additional $9 million per year in the 20 children’s treatment centres across Ontario.  This much needed additional funding will support new programs and improve existing services to help kids with special needs get the treatment they need faster and closer to home.

This is fantastic news for kids with multiple special needs and their families in Simcoe and York! Network partners from healthcare, education and children’s services have been battling with the impact of continued cost containment on services, increasing wait times and wait lists.  The $1.16 million in additional funding to Children’s Treatment Network means more children will receive the services and supports they desperately need and will help reduce wait times for kids and families waiting for vital services.

Over the next few months, Network partners including hospitals, school boards, rehab providers and community agencies will be working together to make sure this new funding is allocated in the most effective way  -- to help fill service gaps, reduce wait lists, optimize resources and meet families’ needs going forward.

On behalf of all the children with multiple special needs and their families in Simcoe and York, we’d like to publicly thank the government for their support.  We’d also like to send special thanks to OACRS (Ontario Association of Children’s Rehabilitation Services) for the great work they do in raising awareness of the need for continued government funding support for kids with special needs.  

Network Services Information Kit for Professionals

Many of you have asked for more detailed information about the services and supports for children and youth with multiple special needs that are funded through Children’s Treatment Network. So early next month, professionals and service providers across the Network will receive an in-depth resource manual – hot off the presses!

What’s in the Information Kit for Professionals?
In addition to information pieces describing Children’s Treatment Network, Network Partners and how the children’s services community works together to support kids with multiple special needs, the kit also includes detailed information on each of the additional services and supports funded by Children’s Treatment Network including:

• Additional Local Team Services and Specialty Services descriptions as well as service eligibility information
• The referral process and how to access services and supports available across the Network
• Information about the children/youth who would most benefit from the Network’s tools that allow professionals from different disciplines to take a coordinated team approach to care
• Contact information for Network services/supports and locations of Local Sites.
  

Information for Families at Local Sites
Although the kit has been designed primarily as an information resource for service providers, the information pieces can be shared with families. They will also be made available to families in special displays located at each Network Local Site.

The information kit will also be posted on the Network’s public website at www.ctn-simcoeyork.ca <www.ctn-simcoeyork.ca%20> and on SharePoint, the Networks on-line information centre for professionals.

IPAC Deloitte Leadership Award Presentation

There were smiles all around when Children’s Treatment Network of Simcoe York Board Members were presented with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Award.  During an informal presentation ceremony that took place early in April, Lynda Bowles (right), Audit Partner, Public Sector Group, Deloitte, applauded Network partners for their innovation, strategic thinking, shared vision and collaborative leadership.  The IPAC Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards recognizes organizations from across the country that demonstrate outstanding leadership by taking bold steps to improve public services in Canada.

At the official national awards ceremony held last November, Children’s Treatment Network was showcased as a ground breaking initiative where parents, government and professionals from education, healthcare, recreation and community services are collaborating to transform the services system and bring coordinated integrated care to kids with multiple special needs and their families in Simcoe and York.

Among the 14 other award winners in five different categories were SickKids Hospital, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Simon Fraser University and the Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences.

To learn more about Children’s Treatment Network visit www.ctn-simcoeyork.ca.