NETWORK E-BULLETIN - SEPTEMBER 2007 EDITION

Year 1: Over 2400 kids benefit from additional Network services

Working Together For Kids & Teens with Disabilities … Children’s Treatment Network is a new service delivery model for kids with multiple disabilities in Simcoe and York. It links over 30 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 and adding 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 <http://www.ctn-simcoeyork.ca>

NEWS AT A GLANCE:

• Year One: Over 2,400 Kids Benefit from Additional Network Services
• Single Plan of Care – A Parent’s Perspective
• Team to serve the Francophone community
• Holy Cross School Carnival raises over $1600 for the Network!
• Briefing our Election Candidates
  

Year One: Over 2,400 kids benefit from additional Network services
- Network partners deliver over 19,000 additional therapy sessions -
The year-end numbers are in and we’re thrilled to share some great news about the impact of our work together. In our first year of operations the hard work, passion and commitment of all Network partners have produced some startling results for kids and families in Simcoe and York.

The Network had four main goals for Year One (April 06 - March 07):

1. Make an immediate difference for kids and families by expanding services and adding professionals to help reduce wait times
2. Bring more critically needed services closer to home
3. Help reduce the burden on parents by providing a single point of contact for all services
4. Build the tools, processes and systems needed to provide kids and families with a single plan of coordinated care

Here are some highlights of the progress that was made against each of those goals.

Goal #1 - Expand services and add professionals: Wait times were reduced during this 12-month period, as Network funding enabled partners to conduct an additional 19,000 therapy sessions for over 2,400 children in need of services, including:

• 8,105 occupational therapy sessions
• 5,087 speech and language sessions
• 4,623 physiotherapy sessions
• 284 inclusive recreation sessions
• Children and families also benefited from 1,524 additional sessions conducted for dietician services, developmental diagnostic consultations, and service coordination
  

Over 70 additional professionals and physicians dedicated to providing Network services have been hired. These include physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, communication disorder assistants, developmental paediatricians, inclusive recreationists and service coordinators. We have now reached 84% of the recruitment target, well on track to meeting the goal by 2008.

Goal #2 - Bring more critically needed services closer to home: Two new Resource Centres in Barrie and Richmond Hill are bringing additional integrated services, more professionals, specialized equipment and three specialty services to kids and families. Specialty services include Augmentative Communications, Feeding and Swallowing and Developmental Diagnostic Assessments. Two new Local Team Sites in Midland and Alliston are additional service and support hubs for parents and professionals in those communities. Six more new Local Team sites are due to open - two in the coming months (Georgina and Markham) with four more to follow in 2008 (Collingwood, Newmarket, Orillia and Vaughan).

Goal #3 - Provide a single point of contact for all services: Since the launch of the Network’s toll free number in April 2006, 1,000 parents and professionals have called for information about accessing and linking to Network services. 

Goal #4 - Build the tools, processes and systems needed to provide kids and families with a single plan of coordinated care: Working Groups of professionals from Network partner organizations are refining and finalizing the new single plan of care tools, systems and processes that allow them to collaborate and share information securely across multiple agencies and ministries. A special pilot project involving 30 high needs kids and families helped fine tune the single plan of care system. The new system includes working with a child and family team to develop an integrated care plan for each child, coordinating services and monitoring each child’s progress through the use of a shared electronic record.

The transition to single plan of care - Approximately 4,500 children with multiple disabilities will be transitioning into the new system gradually, over the next three years. The process began over the summer with the first wave of 300 children. While families are waiting to transition, the Network and its partners will continue to provide the full range of services currently available, including case management, rehabilitation and new specialty services being introduced into the community. An electronic record will be created for each child in preparation for their transition and parents will be advised as this occurs. To date, electronic records have been opened for over 250 children.

Again, we’d like to thank all the Network partners, parents and professionals in the community who worked tirelessly to achieve some very ambitious first year goals. We’re looking forward to reporting on the benefits kids and families are realizing as a result of our continued work together.

Single Plan of Care - A Parent’s Perspective

In the May eBulletin, we told you about ‘Jessica’s Single Plan of Care’. Jessica was one of the children involved in the single plan of care pilot project. Recently, Jessica’s mom Theresa wrote an article about the Network’s single plan of care for her local Multiple Births Canada chapter. She feels strongly that “parents need to spread the word about the resources the Network provides and be loud and proud to get even more services and partners involved - and get more help from the government”. We’ve posted her article on the website because she’s done a fabulous job of bringing the single plan of care experience to life, from a parent’s perspective. Please take a few minutes to read the article by clicking here.

Thanks very much Theresa, for sharing your thoughts.

Team to serve the Francophone community

Under the French Services Language Act, the Network is committed to effectively serving families in both of Canada’s official languages. With the support of Network partner La Clé d'La Baie www.lacle.ca <http://www.lacle.ca> we’ll be able to do just that. For over 20 years, La Clé d'La Baie has been providing a wide range of quality services and supports for the Francophone community in Simcoe County. They’ve been a strong part of the Children’s Coalition and provide Health and Social Services programs with a focus on Early Years and Child Care services.

Julie Bellehumeur from La Clé d'La Baie is the Network’s new Francophone Service Coordinator and Francophone Team Facilitator. In addition to working with francophone families, she will be meeting with Network partners and other Local Team Facilitators to bring together a unique francophone team that will serve French speaking families in both Simcoe and York. Julie will also work with Network partners to identify the francophone children and families who require the support of a francophone team to coordinate services and develop and implement a single plan of care.

Julie brings 12 years of experience in supporting francophone families to the Network. She’s worked with the Children’s Aid Society and with numerous community youth and children’s daycare organizations. For the past six years she worked with the Ottawa French Public School Board supporting kids with special needs in the classroom.

Approximately 1.2% of York Region and 7.2% of Simcoe County’s population is French speaking. Julie is looking forward to working with all Network partners to create the francophone team we need to ensure French speaking families can fully participate in the development of their child’s single plan of care.

Holy Cross School Carnival raises over $1,600 for the Network!

The students in Mrs. McGlynn’s grade 1and 2 class at Holy Cross Catholic School in Innisfil did something truly amazing for their class project. These 7 and 8 year-old budding entrepreneurs were charged with creating a business that would raise funds for a local charity. But the group of 21 students decided it had to be a very special charity. Brandon, one of their classmates, has autism and cerebral palsy. The class decided that they should raise money for an organization that helps Brandon with all the rehab and supports he needs in school and on the playground.

“We were looking for local organizations that support kids with both autism and cerebral palsy”, says Mrs. McGlynn. “We learned that not only did Children’s Treatment Network support kids like Brandon, they also work with our school board and all the other organizations in our community that support kids with special needs. They were the perfect choice!”

The kids held a Spring Carnival where they raised over $1,600. “I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be so successful”, exclaimed Mrs. McGlynn. “They were completely focused and dedicated to the project. And they were absolutely thrilled when Bob Morton came so they could present a cheque to him for the Network.”

Bob says, “Accepting that cheque from those kids was definitely one of the high points of my professional career.”

Briefing our Election Candidates

In order to raise awareness for the challenges facing children with special needs in our community and generate support for the development of cross-sectoral strategies, the Network is distributing an information brief to all electoral candidates in Simcoe and York.

Please click here to view a copy of the brief.

To learn more about Children’s Treatment Network visit www.ctn-simcoeyork.ca
To submit news or information for inclusion in Network eBulletins please email info@ctn-simcoeyork.ca