Part 5: Principles of Coordinated Service Planning

Child, Youth and Family-Centered Service

Coordinated Service Planning is intended to be a supportive, proactive, responsive, and child-, youth- and family-centred service. This means that families and children/youth are actively engaged and their input is incorporated throughout the planning, implementation, delivery and evaluation of Coordinated Service Planning, as well as in the development and monitoring of their child/youth’s Coordinated Service Plan.

Family-centred service recognizes that each child, youth and family is unique; that the family is the constant in the child/youth’s life; and that the family has expertise in their child/youth’s abilities and needs^{footnote 7[7]}. The family and service providers, and the child/youth as appropriate, work together to make informed decisions about the services and supports the child/youth and family receive. In family-centred service, the strengths and needs of all family members are considered.

Service Planning Coordinators are expected to facilitate the active participation of the child or youth in Coordinated Service Planning, including in goal setting. Child- and youth-centred service recognizes that young people will have a voice in the planning and delivery of their service. Service Planning Coordinators will recognize that young people may have different perspectives and priorities than their parents that should be respected during the planning and delivery of their services.

Providing child-, youth- and family-centred Coordinated Service Planning will require a cultural shift for many Coordinating Agencies and partner organizations. Coordinating Agencies and their partners are expected to embed family-centred service in their organizational culture. The extent to which Coordinated Service Planning is being provided in a child-, youth-, and family-centred way will need to be constantly monitored across organizations, with plans for capacity building and training as needed.

As part of child-, youth- and family-centred service, families can expect that:

• Family and child/youth strengths and goals are at the centre of the plan;
• The priorities and beliefs of children, youth and their families are treated with dignity and respect;
• Families and children/youth receive flexible, individualized service (including flexibility around meeting times, locations, and methods such as in person, over the phone, or via videoconference);
• Families, children and youth actively participate in Coordinated Service Planning, including goal setting;
• Families and children/youth have access to appropriate information about services and processes;
• Families and children/youth will approve the Coordinated Service Plan;
• Families and children/youth are encouraged to include their broader extended family or circle of support in the plan;
• Families and child/youth involvement is supported (e.g. translation and accessibility supports are provided as required);
• Expectations regarding child-, youth- and family-centredness are understood by partner providers;
• The organization is working to entrench a culture of child-, youth- and family-centred service within their organization, the services they provide, and throughout the Coordinated Service Planning process; and
• Families and youth are engaged in formal ways (e.g. presence at governance tables/executive committees, in planning, implementation, delivery and evaluation) across the Coordinated Service Planning process.

Seamless Service and Information Sharing

Families will experience a seamless sharing of information as part of Coordinated Service Planning. With consent, information about a family’s needs will be shared between providers. Families should not feel like they are repeating intake and assessment information or repeating their stories unnecessarily; however, families should be encouraged to share information with providers and have the opportunity to share their stories with new providers if they wish.

To enable seamless service, Coordinating Agencies are encouraged to promote the use of a common consent form across the service area and are required to seek consent for information sharing at the beginning of the Coordinated Service Planning process to minimize unnecessary duplicative consent seeking.

As required by legislation (including the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004), information will be kept secure, shared securely, and appropriately. Ultimately, families and/or youth will decide what information is shared, when information is shared and with whom. Service delivery areas may choose to share information in a variety of ways (e.g. through phone or fax, using a shared electronic record, by mail) that meet their needs and build on local capacity.

Meeting Diverse Needs

The Coordinated Service Planning process will be inclusive, accessible, and culturally-appropriate. It will be respectful of the values and meet the diverse needs of children, youth and their families.

Coordinating Agencies are expected to consider how to make their services accessible to children and youth and their families who may require a range of physical, communication, and/or sensory adaptations.

Coordinating Agencies and their partners will work to understand the demographics of the population within the service delivery area and be responsive to the linguistic and cultural needs of communities within their service delivery area. Coordinating Agencies will engage with the different linguistic and cultural communities within their service delivery area and the service providers who serve them. Coordinating Agencies will incorporate input from these communities into the ongoing planning, delivery and local evaluation of Coordinated Service Planning.

Service providers will be aware of distinct approaches required to address the needs of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and urban Indigenous children and youth. At the local level, Coordinating Agencies are expected to work together with all local service providers to meet the needs of Indigenous children, youth and their families. This includes providing culturally-appropriate services and linkages and referrals to Indigenous service providers and other community resources.

Coordinated Service Planning will also respond to the service needs of French-speaking children and youth, and their families. The French Language Services Act identifies communities where specific services must be available in the French language. Coordinating Agencies, whether or not they are designated under the French Language Services Act, 1990 will engage with French-language school boards and French-language service providers to support the needs of Francophone children and youth with special needs and their families.