Component: provincial initiatives

Legislation: Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA)

Service objectives

The Education Liaison program supports the educational needs and improves the educational outcomes of children and youth in child welfare services, in care, in customary care, and in a Voluntary Youth Services Agreement (VYSA) by helping to identify, access, navigate and strengthen educational supports and community resources relevant to the educational needs of eligible children and youth.

Service description

The goal of the Education Liaison program is to be responsive to the diverse educational needs of children and youth in society services, in care, customary care, and a VYSA (“eligible children and youth”) and to provide supports to improve their educational outcomes. Education Liaisons coordinate educational supports and provide culturally responsive system navigation support for eligible children and youth. Education Liaisons help to resolve issues that impact the educational success of eligible children and youth, and strengthen relationships among societies, public school boards, First Nations school authorities, schools, and community partners in order to improve the educational outcomes of eligible children and youth.

People Served

Children and youth in society services and/or in care subject to the following legal status and/or legal agreement with a children’s aid society, including Indigenous societies

  • Temporary Care Agreement Temporary Care and Custody
  • Child or Youth in Interim Society Care
  • Continued Care and Support for Youth (including youth with Stay Home for School Agreements)
  • Customary Care
  • Voluntary Youth Service Agreements Adoption Consent
  • Kinship Care
  • Kinship Service
  • Child or youth in extended society care with Access; and/or Child or youth in extended society care without Access

Program services

Education Liaisons will

  • Act as a navigator for eligible children and youth within the school system and help to resolve issues that impact student learning (e.g., transitions between schools, suspensions, special education), and help eligible children and youth to receive educational services and supports to help them achieve the educational goals that are relevant to them
  • Work with the society and school board to address student transportation needs
  • Facilitate access for eligible children and youth to existing educational supports and resources in the school system or the community by providing information and referrals for individual eligible children and youth that address individual needs and support/reinforce strengths. Some of the resources and supports an Education Liaison may provide referrals to may include: specialized educational services tutoring supports; mentoring resources; and training, and/or skill development opportunities
  • Facilitate the timely exchange of information between schools and societies (including utilizing and providing input as part of the monitoring and evaluation of local Joint Protocols for Student Achievement (JPSAs), where they exist)
  • Leverage existing resources in the child welfare and education systems through referrals and collaboration (e.g., Ontario Education Championship Teams for Children and Youth in Extended Care (“Championship Teams”), Indigenous Education Leads and Student Success Leads)
  • Strengthen relationships among schools, school boards/authorities, societies and community partners
  • Foster communication and linkages with community agencies/organizations to improve access and mitigate barriers to educational services and supports for eligible children and youth
  • Build system capacity among society and educational staff on how to better meet the educational needs of eligible children and youth

Education Liaisons will meet with eligible children and youth and supporting adults (e.g., caregivers, teachers, counsellors, case workers), which may occur in educational or community-based settings.

Services of the Education Liaison will be

  • Reflective of, and responsive to, the needs of eligible children and youth
  • Accountable to children and youth served and to their communities
  • Responsive to the social, linguistic and cultural diversity of eligible children and youth
  • Culturally responsive to the needs of a diverse population of youth (e.g., FNIM, and racialized children and youth)
  • Be provided in French, in French-language designated areas, and include liaising with French-language school boards and community resources for Francophone participants and participants attending a French-language school
  • Staffed by individuals with the appropriate skills and abilities necessary to respond effectively to the educational needs of children and youth. This includes knowledge of Ontario’s education system and connections in the education sector
  • Based on the assessed needs and preferences of the eligible children and youth who receive services, and available society, community and contracted ministry resources

Program/service features

The Program / Services contracted by the ministry and delivered by the Transfer Payment Recipient will reflect the following features:

Program goals

  • Maintain  documentation, and reporting systems/protocols
  • Recruit and orient the Education Liaison position as needed
  • Provide supplemental training for the Education Liaison, as needed

Maintain relationships with key community contacts such as local schools and community agencies

  • Identify and initiate contact with schools, community agencies/organizations and institutions providing educational supports and serving eligible children and youth
  • Increase access to services and resources for children and youth
  • Identify key service referral contacts and initiate/establish communication and referral protocols with schools and/or boards
  • Identify key service referral contacts and initiate/establish communication and referral protocols with organizations and agencies
  • Initiate and maintain ongoing contact with organizations and agencies to explore referral or programming opportunities
  • Provide eligible children and youth with services and resources, as appropriate
  • Provide eligible children and youth with referrals to services and resources, as appropriate
  • Provide capacity building services to other society staff to increase their knowledge of the education system and strategies for promoting academic success and providing educational supports
  • Provide capacity building services to caregivers to increase their knowledge of the education system and strategies for promoting academic success and providing educational supports

Ministry expectations

The transfer payment recipient is responsible for the following activities

  • Overall Education Liaison Program administration and delivery, including agreed upon program deliverables
  • Providing supervision and training of the Education Liaison
  • Reporting serious incidents involving an Education Liaison and eligible children and youth to the ministry’s regional office; and
  • Developing appropriate policies and procedures for protecting the privacy of personal information collected from eligible children and youth
  • The policies and procedures that are developed by the Service Provider shall comply with the confidentiality provisions relating to children who are the subject of a child welfare proceeding under the Child, Youth, and Family Services Act, 2017 and the Youth Criminal Justice Act, including Part 6, when the information and records relate to young persons as defined by the Youth Criminal Justice Act

Reporting requirements

  • Narrative Report -Annually – Submitted with Annual Quantitative Service Data Report (Apr 1 – Mar 31 inclusive) due April 30
  • The transfer payment recipient is expected to complete a narrative report which includes the following information

Program description

  • Briefly describe the program as it relates to your This section can include community characteristics, profile of eligible children and youth served (e.g., main sub- populations by ethno-cultural group, disability, age), school and community response to the program; changes in access to educational services and supports for eligible children and youth; results from inter-agency and school collaborations
  • Describe engagement with First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and urban Indigenous communities and organizations
  • Describe how the Education Liaison program develops and fosters partnerships between societies, schools, and school boards and/or First Nations educational authorities, and community agencies offering educational and well-being services and supports
  • Describe capacity building services provided to society staff to increase their knowledge of the education system and strategies for promoting academic success and providing educational supports
  • Describe capacity building services provided to caregivers to increase their knowledge of the education system and strategies for promoting academic success and providing educational supports

Successes

  • Describe what made the program work well in your community, including linkages or partnerships formed with schools, service providers and other community resources, and provide examples. Examples could include quotes and/or anecdotes (with identifying information removed)

Challenges

  • Describe the challenges encountered in planning and delivering the program and the strategies employed, or planned, to overcome the challenges

Recommendations

  • Describe your recommendations for how the ministry could improve the program

Summary

  • Briefly summarize the key information in the This section could include the service provider’s reflections/learning from planning and delivering the program

The following service data will be reported on at an Interim and Final stage. Please refer to your final agreement for report back due dates and targets.

Service Data Name Definition

# of participants with one or more disabilities

Number of unique participants who identify as a person with one or more disabilities (includes physical, mental, and learning disabilities, hearing or vision disabilities, substance use dependencies, environmental sensitivities, as well as other conditions that limit activities of daily living).

# of Education Liaison service/support: Needs Assessment

Number of participants who received services/support from an Education Liaison by service/support type: Needs assessment 

# of Education Liaison service/support: Post-secondary education planning

Number of participants who received services/support from an Education Liaison by service/support type: Post secondary education planning

# of Education Liaison service/support: Navigation Support

Number of participants who received services/support from an Education Liaison by service/support type: Navigation support

# of Education Liaison service/support: Advocacy

Number of participants who received services/support from an Education Liaison by service/support type: Advocacy

# of Elementary school (primary)

Number of unique participants in grades 1 – 5.

# of First Nations school authority

Number of First Nations school authorities served by the Education Liaison program in children’s aid society catchment area.

# of High school (secondary)

Number of participants in grades 9 – 12.

# of Individuals

Number of eligible children or youth participating (“participant”) in the program who had at least one significant interaction (e.g. education-related conversation) with an Education Liaison during the reporting period.

# of Middle school (junior high)

Number of participants in grades 6-8

# of New participants

Number of new children served by the Education Liaison program

# of Participant referrals

The # of participant referrals to services/resources during the quarter. The list of referrals includes:

  • Specialized educational supports (e.g., occupational therapy; assessments; clinical services)
  • Tutoring Academic enrichment/extra-curricular
  • Career mentoring Skill development EDU Transportation support
  • Student Success Lead Indigenous Education Lead
  • Other referral type

# of Preschool

Number of participants in grades JK-SK

# of Returning participants

See “program participant”: Number of returning individual children served by the Education Liaison program

# of School boards

Number of school boards served by the Education Liaison program in children’s aid society catchment area

# of Schools

 Number of schools served by the Education Liaison program in children’s aid society catchment area.

Education Liaison: Ministry-funded agency expenditures

Total ministry-funded expenses for the transfer payment recipient to administer and/or deliver this service in the reporting year (cumulative).