The Minister of Children, Community and Social Services wants people to know that a new autism services program hasn’t been delayed but instead will put in place very carefully and piece by piece.
On Wednesday, Todd Smith, who is also the MPP for Bay of Quinte riding, discussed with Quinte News the new “needs based” program and it’s roll-out.
Originally, the government announced the new program would be ready to roll in April of this year but with the number of complex recommendations made, that date has been changed to accommodate the vast work needed to get the program up and running properly.
Smith says it is a hugely complex program and before any announcement was made, the government received around 120 recommendations from experts in the field of autism treatment and programming and they have taken their recommendations to heart.
He said they accepted all of their ideas and have doubled the budget for autism programming from $300 million to $600 million.
The recommendations can’t be made reality by waving a wand and will take time he told Quinte News.
He says the government wants this to be one of the best if not the best autism service programming around and the people in the field tell us that we need to stick to our plan because they, the ones who work with autism every day, have wholeheartedly supported it. In the end many more children will receive help than ever before in Ontario.
Smith said that four key pillars of new program will be implemented soon through a panel of experts known as an “implementation working group.”
Core services will be rolled out soon and for the first time mental health and crisis intervention services will be available to families and their children.
Care Coordinators will be put in place soon to guide families through the process of getting appropriate treatment and families will be able to access guidance on how to prepare themselves properly to provide supports at home to their children.
Smith says the government is not delaying anything, they are simply phasing in the program using advice from people who know what they’re talking about and while we add the building blocks to the new program.
Over 20,000 families are sitting on a waiting list for autism services according to Smith and until the new plan is ready to go next spring, the government has offered an invitation to families registered to receive $20,000 per child for children under six years of age and $5,000 per child for children over six so they can access at least some service instead of again sitting on a waiting list and getting nothing.
Smith reaffirmed that childhood budgets will not be a part of the new Ontario autism program.
He says when the government is done, this is going to be a great, great program and the people in the autism field support the the plan 100% but it can’t be rushed and put in place all at once.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated funding was per family and not per child. We apologize for any confusion.
