Learning about the work of The Child and Youth Planning Table

The Child and Youth Planning Table for Hastings and Prince Edward held an event at Quinte West City Hall on Wednesday highlighting the work being done by its three committees through tracking data and using results-based accountability (RBA) to help children in the area.

“I think today, in attendance, we would have representation from at least 50 agencies, organizations, municipal partners, which is really fantastic to bring everybody together to learn about the work of the table, because we want to further it, and have those that are currently involved, involved in the work that we are doing,” coordinator for the Planning Table, Maribeth deSnoo, tells media.

The nearly 100 attendees were put into groups and went to different parts of the building to take in presentations from the three committees.

Those three committees were Early Learning, Childcare and Education, Under 18 Substance Use, and Recurring Complex Situations.

DeSnoo says the organization is anticipating adding more committees.

“One thing that’s important to note, we’re going to do a realignment session and we anticipate, at that time, adding more committees to the current work that we are doing, which is one of the big purposes of today, to inform those key agencies and partners what we’re doing, what else can we be doing?” deSnoo said.

“We know that what we do, and the differences we make for children and youth, impacts what happens in adulthood. When you look at some of the issues in our communities currently, we want to impact those issues. It’s what we do with children and youth.”

DeSnoo mentioned some of those issues.

“You’re looking at things like poverty, you’re looking at things like homelessness, you’re looking at things like a primary care provider. I anticipate we’ll have committees organized around some of those things, wanting to make a difference,” deSnoo explained.

While tackling some of the issues will take time, deSnoo is encouraging the public to see the differences that are being made by the group now.

“What I want to encourage our communities to do, we have made very public … hold us accountable and see the differences that we are making. Some of the things will take longer to have an impact, but we’re already making some gains,” deSnoo says.

The website can be found here.