SmartStart Hubs are expected to serve children and youth from birth until the age of 19, or up to age 21 if they are in school, living in Ontario. Hubs will serve children and youth whose families have concerns about their development and/or day-to-day functioning related to development (for information about mental health concerns, please see below).

Families may be concerned about one or more areas of the child/youth’s functioning in daily life as they grow and develop, such as:

  • The child/youth’s ability to move around
  • The child/youth’s ability to perform daily activities such as feeding/eating
  • The child/youth’s ability to understand other people or tell people what they want
  • The ability of the child/youth to get along with others or the way their behaviour impacts their ability to participate in activities

SmartStart Hubs will serve families with concerns about their child’s development who are not sure what their child’s developmental support needs are, what services to seek, or how to access them, and would benefit from an exploratory discussion about their child’s development, strengths and support needs.

The Hub is not intended to be an additional step for accessing services, or to be burdensome to families. If a family is already aware of a specific service need and connects with/is referred to the Hub for a particular service, they may not want or benefit from an exploratory discussion with the Hub before accessing that service. In such cases, they will be connected directly to the service or service provider they are seeking. The SmartStart Hub will not be a mandatory access point for child development and special needs services. For more information about identifying a single service need, see page 27.

A diagnosis is not required to access the SmartStart Hub. Hub services will be available to provide a further exploration of needs for children/youth showing signs of, or who have already been diagnosed with, conditions such as: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, or other developmental/neurodevelopmental challenges and conditions (see Appendix C for sample client profiles).

Concerns with changes in a child/youth’s mental health (for example, mood, anxiety, depression) would be best explored within the child and youth mental health system. If families have these concerns, they should seek child and youth mental health services, in accordance with local service pathways for mental health services. For families who are connected with the SmartStart Hub who identify mental health concerns, the Hub will work with their local children’s mental health lead agency to support warm connections and streamlined referral pathways to children’s mental health services. The SmartStart Hub will collaborate with the mental health lead agency so children, youth and families receiving services from both the Hub and the lead agency have coordinated and streamlined service experiences.