Part 5: Principles of the Smart Start Hubs

This section describes the principles that form the foundation of the SmartStart Hubs and describe the approach the Hubs will take in serving families and working with partner service providers in the community.

Child-and family-centred

SmartStart Hubs will take a child- and family-centred approach to service, recognizing that each family is unique and is the constant in the child’s life. Hubs will engage meaningfully with children and families by recognizing that families are the experts on their children’s abilities and needs ^{footnote 9[9]} and by working with families in active partnership to help them make informed decisions about the services and supports the child and family receive. In family-centred service, the strengths and needs of all family members are considered, and services are planned for and provided in a respectful, empathic and culturally-responsive manner.

Strengths-based and evidence-informed

SmartStart Hubs will focus on the child and family’s strengths – and not on their “deficits” – and will use a holistic approach to promote the child’s and family’s well being, based on the F-words for Child Development (see Part 6 for more information). A holistic approach takes into consideration all aspects of the child and family’s life and experiences.

SmartStart Hubs will make connections to appropriate services informed by evidence and best practices.

Coordinated and integrated

SmartStart Hubs will form and maintain partnerships with community service providers across sectors to provide supported connections to services for families, and to share information (with consent) between providers to support more coordinated and integrated service delivery for families.

SmartStart Hubs are a first step toward greater integration in the child development services system, and will provide families with a more seamless and coordinated service experience.

Seamless and streamlined

Families will experience seamless connections to assessments and services through the SmartStart Hub.

Hubs will provide supported connections between service providers, enabled through proactive information sharing – with consent – to reduce duplication and support the delivery of streamlined assessment and services.

Clear and consistent

Families will know where to go when they have a concern about their child’s development through the SmartStart Hub as a clear ‘main door’ and will be equipped with the right information at the right times.

Through the implementation of common tools and service standards, families will have consistent service experiences across the province.

Equitable and culturally safe

SmartStart Hubs will support families in a way that is culturally safe, responsive and promotes equity, anti-racism and anti-oppression (see Part 7 for more information on these concepts).

To promote cultural safety and humility in the service system, Hubs will develop approaches to promote respectful engagement that recognizes and strives to address power imbalances between service providers and families. ^{footnote 10[10]}

Cultural responsiveness recognizes the importance of including families’ cultural contexts in service provision.