Published plans and annual reports 2015-2016: Ministry of Children and Youth

Introduction

Ontario is home to over 2.6 million children. These young people deserve the best opportunities to shape their own lives and to become active and productive members of their communities. They are the key to Ontario's future success and prosperity.

The Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) is committed to creating opportunities that help all children and youth succeed. In 2015-16, the ministry will continue funding, overseeing and delivering programs that are relevant, efficient, effective and sustainable to improve outcomes for children and youth. With innovation and creativity, the ministry will continue to be a champion for the voice of children and youth in government, and a transformative force in the delivery of responsive and effective service experiences for young people and their families.

Ministry vision

The Ministry of Children and Youth Services envisions an Ontario where all children and youth have the best opportunity to succeed and reach their full potential.

Ministry mission

The Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) will work with government and community partners to develop and implement policies, programs, and a service system that help give children the best possible start in life, prepare youth to become productive adults and make it easier for families to access the services they need at all stages of a child's development.

Ministry mandate

The ministry works with a broad spectrum of partners to fund and/or provide:

• early identification and intervention services for infants, children and youth and their families to support healthy development
• financial support for families
• supports for children with special needs including autism
• shild and youth mental health services
• opportunities and supports to facilitate the successful achievement of key youth development outcomes needed for life success
• protection services and support for children who have been, or are at risk of being abused or neglected while continuing to modernize the child protection system
• facilitating permanency options, including adoption for children who need the stability a new family can provide and
• a continuum of community and custodial programs for youth in, or at risk of, conflict with the law, aged 12 to 17 at the time of the offence.

Key priorities

The ministry responds to the changing needs of children and youth through the delivery of relevant programs focused on improving outcomes. Our strategies are evidence-based and focused on increasing the effectiveness and sustainability of services, while working collaboratively across government.

In 2015-16, the ministry's key priorities include:

Providing access to quality supports and services for children with special needs and their families

• Implementation of Moving on Mental Health to support Ontario families in knowing what mental health services are available in their communities and how to access them
• Delivery of a range of services and supports to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and their families and
• Supporting children and youth with special needs and their families through changes leading to seamless service delivery and improved service experiences for families.

Young people at risk are achieving improved outcomes

• Funding, oversight, and performance monitoring of mandated services including child protection to help children and youth who have been, or are at risk of being, abused or neglected, grow up in safer, more stable environments
• Working with partners to deliver evidence-based community and custodial youth justice services and programs, from diversion to reintegration, and including special populations (Aboriginal, youth with mental health issues and gender)
• Increasing investments under Ontario's Youth Action Plan to further the province's efforts to prevent youth violence
• Implementation of the expanded Ontario's Student Nutrition Program so that children in higher-needs communities do not attend school hungry and
• The implementation of an annual increase to the Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) rate and the income threshold, which will enhance the incomes of low- to moderate-income families.

Children get a healthy start to life

• Supporting the delivery of programs and services that assist parents, infants and young children, and support healthy child development and
• Integration of early identification and intervention supports and services for parents, infants and young children so they can access them in a more coordinated, timely and efficient way through Early Years Community Support.

Communities support young people to succeed

• Implementation of the Ontario Youth Strategy as a common set of priorities for all youth, supported by an indicator framework that provides a picture of overall wellbeing of youth in Ontario and
• Developing an Aboriginal Children and Youth Strategy to transform the way service supports for First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and urban Aboriginal children and youth are designed and delivered.

Young people are successfully transitioning to adulthood

• Continued implementation of youth leaving care supports and
• Transition planning for youth with special needs entering adulthood.

Ministry programs and services: summary

The following programs and services are funded or delivered through the Ministry of Children and Youth Services:

Child and youth mental health

Mental health services for children and youth are currently delivered through more than 260 child and youth mental health agencies, 17 hospital-based outpatient programs, and one directly-operated child and youth mental health centre. This is in addition to on-site clinical supports at six directly-operated youth justice secure custody/detention facilities and by a number of multi-service agencies who provide services to children and youth with multiple needs (e.g. youth justice and mental health).

Through Ontario's Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, the ministry will continue to build a system that delivers what children and youth need, when they need it, as close to home as possible. The goal of the strategy is improving mental health and wellbeing for all Ontarians. The ministry is creating more coordinated, responsive, client-centred mental health and addictions services throughout the province.

As part of the Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, Ontario's youth suicide prevention plan was launched in 2013-14. In 2014-15, year two of the three year plan, work continued to leverage the momentum built in year one through:

• Local mobilization, which includes:
  • Community supports to 34 communities across the province to continue efforts to enhance capacity and strengthen local youth suicide prevention efforts
  • Dedicated supports for First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and urban Aboriginal organizations in recognition that these communities have unique cultural and organizational needs and
  • Improvements to the Together to Live web-based guide/toolkit launched in 2013-14.
• Implementation of coaching supports through the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health to support community mobilization and
• Six provincial mobilization forums to be developed and implemented by the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health, held throughout March 2015. An Aboriginal-specific forum held in Thunder Bay on March 31.

The approach for year three is being developed based on the feedback from community events, cross-sectoral service providers and partners, First Nations partners, and the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health.

Building on the Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, Moving on Mental Health: A system that makes sense for children and youth, is the next step in transforming the child and youth mental health system.

Moving on Mental Health is transforming the experience of children and youth with mental health problems and their families so that, regardless of where they live in Ontario, they will know what mental health services are available in their communities, and how to access mental health services and supports that meet their needs. Moving on Mental Health transformation includes establishing lead agencies in every Ontario community that will be responsible for the planning and delivery of service, and identifying core services. In January 2014, the ministry identified 33 service areas for the delivery of core child and youth mental health services and began the identification process for the first phase of lead agencies. Fourteen lead agencies were announced in August 2014, with another two in February 2015. The ministry began the process of identifying lead agencies in the remaining service areas in March 2015.

The Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health will continue its work to improve the quality and effectiveness of child and youth mental health services through the promotion of evidence-based practices and knowledge transfer with front-line service providers.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $509.7 million in child and youth mental health.

Services and supports for children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The ministry provides services through the Autism Intervention Program (AIP), including Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) services, family and child supports, and transition supports to children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who are diagnosed as having toward the severe end of the autism spectrum.

A range of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)-based Services and Supports will continue to benefit approximately 9,400 children and youth with ASD in 2015-16. These services help young people with ASD become more independent and improve their communication, social, emotional and daily living skills.

Training and support will continue to be offered to parents, so they can incorporate strategies into daily activities at home and further develop the skills their kids are learning at school and/or in other programs. This training and support helps parents better address the needs of their children and build their own skills.

In 2015-16, the ministry will also continue to:

• Support the Potential Program (formerly known as Realize Community Potential), which helps reduce the stress on families by providing supports like parent networking opportunities, training and access to ASD experts and resources
• Provide funding to help children and youth with autism to attend March break programs and summer camps, where kids enjoy making new friends, learning new skills, and participating in activities such as swimming, arts and crafts, bowling, skating, and music
• Provide funding for the Grant Assistance Program (GAP) which provides tuition reimbursement to currently employed staff of the AIP and ABA-based Services and Supports for professional development at qualifying academic programs in exchange for continuous employment
• Provide funding for the School Support Program to assist educators in the publicly funded school system to support the learning needs of students with ASD
• Support children leaving the AIP and starting or continuing in a publicly-funded school through Connections for Students
• Fund respite services for families caring for a child with autism and
• Provide families, through the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), with the opportunity to request an independent review of decisions about their child's eligibility for, or discharge from, IBI services provided through the AIP.

The ASD Clinical Expert Committee will continue to provide the ministry with expert advice on up-to-date and evidence-based research to help inform policy and program development.

In April 2014, the ministry released a Parent Resource Kit for families with children and youth with ASD. The kit provides helpful information, tools, and resources following a diagnosis of ASD. In 2015-16, the ministry will continue to raise awareness of the Kit.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $195.1 million in services for children and youth with ASD.

Children's treatment and rehabilitation services

The ministry will continue to fund Children's Treatment Centres (CTCs) to provide core rehabilitation services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy to children and youth up to 19 years of age with physical and/or developmental disabilities, chronic illness and/or communication disorders. These include cerebral palsy, brain injuries, developmental and learning disabilities, Down syndrome, spina bifida, ASD and pervasive developmental disorders.

CTCs may also offer a variety of other services and clinics - such as support to children and youth with ASD, preschool speech and language services, school health support services, respite, and developmental programs - depending on local needs and the mix of providers in each community.

Twenty of Ontario's 21 CTCs are funded by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS). Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care because it provides in-patient services.

The ministry will continue to fund respite services for families with children who are medically-fragile, technology-dependent, or who have physical and/or developmental disabilities. Services are provided in the family home or in a setting outside the home, such as a group home.

CTCs served more than 70,000 children and youth with special needs in 2013-14. The 2014 Budget committed an additional $5 million in annual funding for investments in CTCs. This funding is being used to reduce waitlists for core rehabilitation services and improve how families of children and youth with special needs access the services they need, as close to home as possible.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $118.9 million in Children's Treatment and Rehabilitation Services, including respite.

Special needs strategy

Working with the ministries of Community and Social Services, Education, and Health and Long-Term Care, the ministry launched a Special Needs Strategy in February 2014 with steps to improve services for children and youth with special needs and their families.

In 2015-16, children's agencies and other service providers, including health service providers and district school boards, in the 34 special needs service delivery areas will complete proposals for the implementation of coordinated service planning and the integrated delivery of rehabilitation services. In 2015-16, the ministry will continue working with partners towards the realization of the vision.

Identifying children with special needs earlier and getting them the right services sooner

A new preschool developmental screening process will help families, caregivers and child-serving professionals identify early signs or risks for delays to development in children from birth to 6 years of age.

Making the delivery of supports and services more seamless

Improvements to make rehabilitation services, including speech-language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy, easier to access and seamlessly delivered from birth through the school years.

Coordinated service planning

A new process for children and youth with multiple and/or complex special needs will mean that families will have a trusted partner to help them connect with the right services and supports, without having to tell their stories multiple times.

Coordinated service planning will be composed of three key elements. These are:

• A single coordinating agency in each of 34 special needs service delivery areas through which families can access coordinated service planning for a range of services across sectors
• Dedicated service planning coordinators, through each coordinating agency, who will lead coordinated service planning for families of children and youth with multiple and/or complex special needs by working with children's services, health, and education sectors and
• One coordinated service plan for each child/youth that takes into account all of his/her goals, strengths, needs, as well as all of the services that the child/youth is and will be receiving.

The target population for coordinated service planning is families of children and youth with multiple and/or complex special needs (from birth through school exit) who would benefit from the added support provided through coordinated service planning, due to the breadth and cross-sectoral nature of their children's service needs and/or potential challenges in coordinating services because of external factors (outside of the child's needs).

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $3.0 million in coordinated service planning.

Complex special needs

Through Complex Special Needs funding, the ministry will continue to fund time-limited specialized supports to children and youth with complex special needs when existing local and regional services and resources are not able to address the immediate health and safety of the children and youth.

Children and youth receiving complex special needs funded supports include those who:

• Have two or more special needs requiring integrated service approaches that cross sectors (e.g., health, education, and social services) with services often being provided at a number of different locations
• Have needs associated with a variety of conditions (e.g., physical, intellectual, emotional, and developmental disabilities and chronic, severe and/or terminal illness) including those who are medically fragile and/or technologically dependent and
• Require specialized services and supports to participate in daily living activities, on a long-term, continuous and/or intermittent basis.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $95.0 million for complex special needs.

The ministry is taking steps to strengthen the management, transparency, and accountability of the complex special needs fund. It will implement provincial guidelines and identify up to seven agencies to manage and be accountable for service resolution and complex special needs funding.

Young people at risk are achieving improved outcomes

Child protection services

Child protection services help children and youth who have been or are at risk of being abused or neglected grow up in safer, more stable, caring environments. In 2015-16, the ministry now funds 47 children's aid societies (CASs), including nine Aboriginal CASs, to perform the following functions: investigate allegations of child abuse, neglect and/or risk of harm; provide protection services to children and prevention/protection services designed to strengthen the ability of families to safely care for their children; provide and supervise alternate living arrangements when children cannot remain safely at home; and facilitate adoptions.

The former Commission to Promote Sustainable Child Welfare submitted its final report to the ministry in September 2012. Based on the commission's key recommendations and discussions with the sector, the ministry implemented a new funding model and new approach to accountability in 2013-14.

The funding model allocates funds based on a combination of socio-economic and volume-based factors. These factors reflect the relative need for child protection services in each community, the services that CASs provide, and the commitments made to children in care.

The new approach to accountability broadens the focus from compliance and financial management to include measuring and reporting on outcomes for children and youth and organizational capacity. This is being facilitated through the introduction of several mechanisms, including:

• collection of PIs in all CASs
• public reporting of five PIs
• cyclical reviews to facilitate an assessment of a CASs performance and capacity to improve
• performance management strategy to recognize CASs performance that exceeds expectations and to identify opportunities for improvement where performance does not meet expectations and
• accountability Agreements between the ministry and each CASs.

Regulation 70 of the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA) requires CASs to submit a budget plan demonstrating that they can manage within their approved budget allocations. The Accountability Agreements require that CASs operate within their approved budget allocations.

Starting in 2014-15, the ministry has set up the Balanced Budget Fund to support CASs in meeting the balanced budget requirement set out in Regulation 70 and in proactively managing the risks associated with the multi-year budget planning process. Through the Balanced Budget Fund, CASs may request access to their prior year surpluses under certain circumstances to balance their budgets.

In 2015-16, the ministry continues to support the collection of PIs in all CASs, the public reporting on five PIs, cyclical reviews and the performance management strategy, and the implementation of two-year Accountability Agreements between the ministry and each CAS.

The ministry is working collaboratively with the Ministry of Education (EDU) on initiatives to improve educational outcomes for children and youth in care and those who receive services from CASs. In 2015, a provincial template for a Joint Protocol for Student Achievement (JPSA) was released to facilitate collaboration between CASs and school boards to support educational success for children and youth. The ministry and EDU are also working together to develop data sharing agreements between EDU and CASs to monitor the educational outcomes of children and youth in care and those who receive services from CASs.

The sector is also working with the Ministry of Government Services and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) to develop a comprehensive program of shared services, including back-office and service delivery functions, to enhance capacity, value for money, and service quality of individual CASs and the entire sector.

Work will continue on the implementation of the Child Protection Information Network (CPIN) to modernize the province's child protection system. The new information system helps agencies more easily manage case files and finances, share information with each other, make decisions for the children they serve, and make it possible to track and report on outcomes.

CPIN was declared ready for use in June 2014 and was implemented at five CASs by the end of 2014-15. 5,355 families being served by CASs (20% of families in the child protection system across Ontario) are recorded and are actively being supported in the CPIN system.

The ministry will continue working with the child protection sector to develop tools and initiatives to help achieve the goals of prevention, permanency and preparation for life for all children and youth receiving child protection services.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $1.6 billion in child protection services.

Reducing poverty

The ministry has continued to focus on initiatives that mitigate the effects of poverty for children and youth and that reduce child poverty in our province. Highlights include:

• 47,000 children and their families have been lifted out of poverty between 2008 and 2011
• About one million children in over 500,000 families are being helped by the Ontario Child Benefit. In addition, indexing the Ontario Child Benefit to keep pace with inflation which will result in the maximum annual child benefit increasing to $1,336 per child as of July 1, 2015 and
• Starting in 2014, investing $32 million over three years to expand the Student Nutrition Program to serve about 56,000 more school-aged children and youth. During the 2013-14 school year, the program served more than 756,000 children and youth.

Ontario child benefit and Ontario child benefit equivalent

The Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) is a non-taxable, income-tested financial benefit that helps with the cost of raising children under the age of 18. In 2015-16, about one million children, in over 500,000 low- to moderate-income families will receive the benefit. The maximum benefit will increase to $1,336 per child per year iOCBuly 2015 from $1,310 per year, when the OCB is indexed to the Ontario Consumer Price Index. To be eligible for the benefit, parents need to file their annual income taxes and register for the Canada Child Tax Benefit.

The ministry will also continue to provide funding to CASs equivalent to the maximum OCB for children and youth in the care of CASs and in Formal Customary Care. This funding helps provide access to recreational, educational, cultural, and social opportunities such as tutoring and skills building to these children and youth. Older youth also participate in a savings program to help them prepare for independence and the transition to adulthood. These youth gain access to their savings when they leave care.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $1.1 billion in the Ontario Child Benefit and $19.7 million in the Ontario Child Benefit Equivalent.

Youth Justice services

In 2015-16, the ministry will continue to provide evidence-informed community and custodial programs, ranging from diversion to reintegration of youth after detention or custody. Fewer youth continue to come into custody, with the majority of youth receiving service/supervision in the community including diversion, rehabilitation, probation and supports for youth with mental health needs.

Youth who are placed in custody and detention facilities are given the opportunity to participate in educational and rehabilitative programs that help them develop the skills they need to achieve success in the community. Programs include skills development, substance abuse counselling, life skills and anger management. Probation officers will continue to provide case management support to youth who have been sentenced by the courts and will work with youth in detention to enhance the transition to community supports and services.

The ministry will build on its achievements, strengthen response to special populations, and foster continuous improvement in the youth justice service system. Priorities include evidence-informed programs and services; responding to special populations (Aboriginal, mental health, gender); maintaining probation officer support to youth in detention by providing an individualized community release plan that assists a youth's transition to the community; using a strengths-based approach to probation case management; improving educational outcomes for youth in the youth justice system; developing a multi-year strategy to work with gang-involved youth residing in identified custody facilities; optimizing the use of youth justice facilities; improving capacity to report on outcomes for youth as a result of service; projects and collaboration for opportunities for a broader system-level approach to prevention/diversion; and improved coordination/collaboration for youth who require supports from multiple programs/sectors.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $366.2 million in Youth Justice services.

Residential services

Children and youth may be placed in residential care as a result of a court order under the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA), a temporary care agreement, or being in conflict with the law. Other children and youth may be placed in residential care as a result of treatment needs associated with developmental and physical challenges, medically-fragile conditions, behavioural difficulties, mental health issues or substance abuse.

Residential services are largely provided through group homes or foster care settings or youth justice custody/detention facilities. In 2014-15, the ministry funded approximately 3,300 beds in 434 group homes, approximately 12,000 beds in more than 7,500 foster homes, and capacity for approximately 816 beds in youth justice dedicated residential settings.

Children get a healthy start to life

Healthy Babies Healthy Children

The Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program will continue to support healthy child development by:

• screening pregnant women and new mothers
• offering information on healthy child development and parenting to families with newborns and
• providing home visiting intervention to at-risk families.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $89.6 million in the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program, which includes funding for the Aboriginal Healthy Babies Healthy Children program.

Early years community support

The ministry will continue to support healthy child development through the following programs:

• Infant Hearing Program, which identifies babies born deaf or hard of hearing and provides services to these children and their families to support language and early literacy development
• Blind-Low Vision Program, which provides specialized early intervention and parent education services needed by families of children born blind or with low vision to help them achieve healthy development
• Preschool Speech and Language Program, which identifies children with speech and language delays/disorders as early as possible and provides these children with services to enable them to develop communication and early literacy skills
• Infant Development Program, which provides early intervention services for children up to age five with, or at risk of, developmental delays
• Enhanced 18-Month Well-Baby Visit, which provides an opportunity for all children in the province to receive a developmental evaluation and review at 18 months of age completed by the primary health care provider in collaboration with parents and
• Student Nutrition Program will continue to help provide nutritious meals and snacks to children and youth – including those in higher-needs communities – to support learning and healthy growth and development.
  • In 2014, the province announced an investment of $32 million over three years as part of a five-year plan to expand and enhance Ontario's Student Nutrition Program. The increased investment will support an expansion of 340 new programs, enhancements to existing programs and an expansion to on-reserve educational settings. In 2014-15, 190 of the proposed 340 new programs were implemented serving approximately 31,000 children and youth and enhanced program supports were provided to approximately 300 student nutrition programs. The ministry is also working in partnership with First Nations organizations and communities to develop and implement Student Nutrition Programs in some on-reserve educational settings over the next two years.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest $127.1 million in early years community upport.

Communities support young people to succeed

Youth Action Plan

Stepping Up: A Strategic Framework to Help Ontario's Youth Succeed was released in June 2013. This strategy provides a common vision, guiding principles, themes, and outcomes that are important for Ontario's youth.

The development of Stepping Up was a commitment in the government's Youth Action Plan, released in August 2012. Stepping Up builds on earlier research from the Review of the Roots of Youth Violence report (2008) and is based on up-to-date research and evidence on youth as outlined in Stepping Stones: A Resource on Youth Development, released in June 2012.

In 2014, the first Stepping Up annual report was released. The annual report highlights the government's initiatives to support youth. It demonstrates that Ontario has invested in all seven Stepping Up themes for youth wellbeing. The annual report also provides an updated Profile of Youth Wellbeing and provides an updated picture of how Ontario's youth are doing. The 2014 Profile of Youth Wellbeing suggests that, in general, outcomes are improving for Ontario's youth.

Stepping Up identifies key initiatives to support a positive, asset-based view of Ontario's youth. In 2014-15 activities and initiatives related to Stepping Up and the Youth Action Plan included:

• Providing funding for the new Youth Research and Evaluation Exchange (YouthREX) program to provide research and evaluation resources, tools, supports, and services to Ontario's youth-serving sector in order to help improve outcomes for youth
• Providing funding for the Local Youth Collective Impact (YouthCI) program to support and strengthen local collaboration and collective impact to foster youth wellbeing and improve outcomes for at-risk youth in communities across Ontario
• Supporting a private sector jobs and mentoring initiative led by the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance (CivicAction), a council of community and business leaders, to explore barriers and identify opportunities for disadvantaged young people
• Supporting the Premier's Council on Youth Opportunities (PCYO), the advisory body of youth (ages 16-25) and young professionals, front-line workers and other leaders from the youth-serving sector who provide advice to the Minister of Children and Youth Services and the Premier of Ontario on issues relating to youth, including how to enhance existing youth-oriented programs, policies, strategies and resources
• Supporting grassroots, youth-led and community-based initiatives for at-risk youth in the Greater Toronto Area (Durham, Halton, Peel, Toronto and York) in 2014-15 providing $5 million for the Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF) program The YOF is delivered by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and is guided by Stepping Up: A Strategic Framework to Help Ontario's Youth Succeed
• Studio Y: Ontario's Youth Social Impact and Leadership Academy that leverages Ontario's world-leading, social innovation infrastructure at MaRS to educate and harness youth talent to address the province's complex social and economic challenges.

In 2015-16 the ministry will continue to fund these programs, services, and initiatives and will implement the next phase of Ontario's Youth Action Plan through enhancements to programs and initiatives that will support at-risk and high-risk youth in communities across Ontario and help prevent youth violence by:

• addressing service gaps for youth with the highest needs
• scaling up local initiatives that have been shown to have real, positive results and
• expanding youth opportunities to high-needs areas of Ontario that were not included in the first phase of the Youth Action Plan.

In 2015-16 the ministry plans to launch the Youth Social Hub, a policy development tool that engages authentic youth voice through two-way dialogue on social media channels, to discuss government's policies and programs impacting youth.

In 2015-16, the ministry will invest over $47 million in Youth Action Plan and the Youth Opportunities Strategy activities and initiatives.

Services and supports for Aboriginal children and youth

The ministry will continue to support the unique needs of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and urban Aboriginal young people across Ontario in 2015-16. It will continue to fund the Aboriginal Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program, the Aboriginal Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Child Nutrition Program, Aboriginal child protection services and prevention initiatives, the Akwe:go and Wasa-Nabin Urban Aboriginal Programs, and community-based programs for Aboriginal youth in, or at risk of, conflict with the law.

As the ministry implements Ontario's Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, it remains committed to providing culturally appropriate mental health services as close to home as possible. Investments in Aboriginal mental health workers, a new Aboriginal training program for mental health workers, and a new Tele-Mental Health Service is helping meet the needs of Aboriginal children and youth.

The ministry is implementing a long-term plan for training supports for Aboriginal Mental Health and Addictions Workers in First Nations, Métis, Inuit and urban Aboriginal communities to build and enhance worker knowledge, competencies and skill capacity to support them in providing high quality mental health services to children and youth.

The plan is being implemented over three fiscal years starting in 2014-15 and consists of:

• a Professional Development (PD) Fund
• Mobile Training Teams (pilot in 2014-15 and 2015-16)
• a Short Term Intensive Course on Aboriginal Mental Health and Addictions and
• an Aboriginal Mental Health and Addictions Workers' Training Committee.

The ministry continues to work collaboratively with First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and urban Aboriginal partners on an Aboriginal Children and Youth Strategy to improve outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal children and youth by transforming the way in which services are designed and delivered.

The ministry will continue working with a number of Aboriginal service providers seeking designation as Aboriginal CASs .

Young people are successfully transitioning to adulthood

Youth leaving care

The ministry will continue to work with CASs and community partners to roll out a suite of new supports and resources for youth leaving care, including:

• the new Youth-in-Transition Worker program (which supports youth leaving care to identify, access and navigate the services and resources they need in their community to make a smooth transition to independent living and adulthood)
• Living and Learning Grant (which supports former youth in care to attend postsecondary education and training) and
• Aftercare Benefits Initiative (which will provide eligible youth with access to prescription drug, dental and extended health benefits).

Transition planning

The ministry has worked collaboratively with the ministries of Community and Social Services and Education to implement integrated transition planning processes for young people with developmental disabilities. This work is aimed at ensuring that every young person with a developmental disability has a single integrated transition plan. The integrated transition planning process involves parents, service providers, school boards, school authorities, and schools to help smooth the transition to work, further education and into the community. This work began in September 2013.

Capital investments to support program delivery

Investing in infrastructure is critical to helping vulnerable Ontarians and building strong communities.

In 2014-15, the ministry will continue helping social service agencies better serve children, youth and their families through new construction or upgrades to existing facilities. Plans will proceed towards constructing new buildings to replace existing Children's Treatment Centres with sites in Hamilton, Brampton, Mississauga and Oakville.

The ministry continues to work collaboratively with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services on a transformational initiative to optimize capacity in the Youth Justice sector and to address capacity pressures and mental health needs in adult female correctional facilities.

The ministry will apply strong governance and oversight to ensure the most strategic investment of its resources to support effective program delivery.

Review of the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA)

The paramount purpose of the CFSA is to promote the best interests, protection and wellbeing of children and youth.

A requirement of the CFSA is that the Minister must publicly review the Act, or specified provisions of it, every five years. These reviews are conducted by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) and help the government better understand how its laws, programs and policies are experienced on the ground. The information gathered as part of these reviews provides an opportunity for learning and change, and also supports the ministry and its partners to provide high-quality services for children, youth and families in Ontario. The Report on the 2015 Review of the Child and Family Services Act is available on the ministry's website at Ontario.ca/children.

Highlights of 2014-15 achievements

• As part of the Special Needs Strategy, in 2014-15 an additional $3.5M was invested in the Preschool Speech and Language Program to reduce wait times for children in need of service.
• CPIN was declared ready for use in June 2014 and was implemented at five CASs by the end of 2014-15, representing 20% of front-line CAS staff across Ontario.
• In 2014-15, nearly 700 youth and over 150 of their dependent children accessed the Aftercare Benefits Initiative, and 564 youth received a Living and Learning Grant (these programs are available for youth who have left the care of a CAS).
• About one million children, in over 500,000 low- to moderate-income families are being helped by the Ontario Child Benefit.
• The Youth Justice Outcomes Framework was launched in October 2014 to build capacity to report on four outcomes for youth receiving youth justice services. Outcomes are aligned with the Ministry's strategic framework for 2013-18 and include: improved functioning and positive social behaviours; increased skills and abilities; increased youth engagement with supports; decreased re-offending.
• In 2014-15 the Student Nutrition Program was expanded to provide 190 new breakfast and morning meal programs so more than 31,000 children and youth were served. This is in addition to the more than 756,000 children and youth served in 2013-14.
• In 2014-15, all 20 commitments of the Ontario Youth Action plan have been implemented and services are ongoing, providing opportunities to over 27,500 at-risk youth. For example:
  • 15,000 youth are accessing mentorship, family supports and civic engagement opportunities through 22 projects funded across the Greater Toronto Area through the Youth Opportunities Fund
  • More than 270 part-time after-school job placements provided for youth with local police services through the expansion to the Youth in Policing Initiative
  • 530 at-risk youth accessed pre and post-employment supports and after-school employment placements through the expansion to the Jobs for Youth Program and
  • 4,800 more at-risk youth are engaged by Youth Outreach Workers (YOW) in nine communities province-wide. Youth who had interactions with YOWs experienced an average decrease of 2.4 risk factors and an average increase of 2.8 protective factors.

Ministry contribution to priorities and results

The Ministry of Children and Youth Services, along with its community partners, is developing and/or tracking outcomes for children and youth to help the ministry determine how programs are working and children, youth, and their families are getting the services that they need.

Healthy child development

Preschool Speech and Language identifies children with speech and language disorders as early as possible and provides these children with services to enable them to develop communication and early literacy skills so they are ready to learn when they start school.

The Infant Hearing Program provides newborn hearing screening in hospitals and community settings, audiology assessment and hearing aid selection, monitoring for babies born at risk of early childhood hearing loss, and services to support language development in infants and preschool children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The Blind-Low Vision Program provides specialized early intervention and parent education services needed by families of children born blind or with low vision to help them achieve healthy development.

Healthy Babies Healthy Children provides screening for pregnant women and new mothers, offers information on healthy child development and parenting to families with newborns; and provides home visiting intervention to at-risk families.

The Infant Development Program provides early intervention services for children up to age five with, or at risk of, developmental delays.

Performance Measure: Service data of infants and families screened by Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program and Infant Hearing Program. Service data of children receiving assessment and intervention services from Preschool Speech and Language Program, Infant Development Program and Blind-Low Vision Program.

Note: Service data for Infant Hearing, Blind Low Vision and Preschool Speech and Language Programs for 2014-15 is based on forecasts to March 31, 2015. The service data for number of Children Served through the Infant Development Program is based on 2014-15 targets in SMIS.

Children and youth at risk

Child protection services

Child Protection Services are provided by CASs , which are mandated through the CFSA to protect children and youth who have been, or are at risk of being, abused and neglected; provide for their care and supervision, and place children for adoption. In 2013-14, CASs completed 81,393 investigations into allegations that a child/children has/have been abused or neglected or is/are at risk of abuse or neglect. In 2013-14, the average number of children in care was 16,434 and the average number of Crown wards in Ontario was 7,030.

The ministry is working with Ontario's 47 CASs to make the child protection system more accountable, flexible and responsive to the needs of children, youth and their families. This includes the development and collection of PIs to better understand how well children and families are being served. In 2015, the ministry began reporting aggregate information on the performance of CASs in five key areas that reflect the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and youth.

In addition, changes to the CFSA since 2006 have created more permanency options for children and youth in care. These changes make it easier for relatives or community members to provide permanent homes for children and youth. They also allow more children to be adopted, while still maintaining ties to their birth family and to their community.

In 2011, the Building Families and Supporting Youth to be Successful Act was passed. Along with other reforms, this Act amended the CFSA to make it easier for prospective parents to adopt a child, provide permanent homes for more Crown wards, and better prepare youth for adulthood. In addition, as of June 15, 2012, eligible families who adopt or take legal custody of a Crown ward who is ten years old or more, or of two or more Crown wards who are siblings, will receive subsidies from CASs to help with the cost of caring for their children.

Permanency can be achieved when CASs use other placement options, such as kinship care and formal customary care, to support more effective permanency planning. Kinship care allows the child to receive care and nurturing by a relative, community member, or other adult with whom the child has a significant relationship.

Kinship caregivers are required to meet provincial foster care requirements, including completing a home study and participating in a training curriculum designed to help prepare for the responsibility of caring for the child.

Formal Customary Care is the placement of a child considered to be in need of protection with alternative caregivers pursuant to a First Nation Band Council Resolution and a Formal Customary Care Agreement that has been entered into by a First Nation and a CAS or a CAS designate. The customary care placement must meet licensing standards and is supervised by the CAS. In 2013, the ministry released a practical guide on formal customary care for CASs and First Nations. Formal Customary Care, A Practice Guide to Principles, Processes and Best Practices was developed to increase understanding of this placement option for Aboriginal children and youth in need of protection. In addition, province-wide training was provided to CASs and First Nations to further support understanding and utilization of formal customary care.

Performance measure: Number of completed adoptions.

Private and International Adoption data is current as of March 31, 2015.

Performance Measure: Average number of children in formal customary care.

Child and youth mental health

The ministry invested approximately $428 million in 2014-15 towards the provision of mental health services to children and youth in Ontario. Through this funding, the ministry is building on its previous investments in more than 260 child and youth mental health agencies, 17 hospital-based outpatient programs, one directly-operated child and youth mental health centre and by a number of multi-service agencies who provide services to children and youth with multiple needs (e.g., youth justice and mental health). More than 50,000 kids and their families are benefitting from quicker and easier access to the right mental health supports.

The next step in the transformation of the child and youth mental health system – Moving on Mental Health – will transform the experience of children and youth with mental health problems and their families, so that regardless of where they live in Ontario they will know:

• what mental health services are available in their communities and
• how to access mental health services and supports that meet their needs.

The ministry is working to support enhanced performance measurement and accountability across the child and youth mental health sector as part of the effective implementation of Moving on Mental Health.

The new 13 PIs identified for child and youth mental health services address four key questions and will support provincial monitoring of the service system over time. The four key questions identified are:

• who are we serving?
• what are we providing?
• how well are we serving children, youth and their families?
• how well is the system performing?

Most of the data has started to be collected in 2014-15. The 2014-15 data for child and youth mental health Transfer Payment Budget Package will be available in summer 2015 and reported in the next Estimates (2016-17).

The data reported for the 2013-14 performance measures from the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) Annual Reports and Brief Child and Family Phone Interview (BCFPI) Annual Reports is no longer being collected because of the transition in 2014-15 to reporting against the 13 key PIs.

Youth Justice services

The ministry provides evidence-informed programs and services that adhere to the research and evidence of effective interventions to reduce re-offending and address the needs and risks of special populations. Programs and services specifically target needs associated with re-offending, focus on the strengths of youth, aim to increase youth academic and/or vocational achievements, and hold youth accountable while recognizing the developmental stages of youth.

Integration of youth justice within the broader children and youth system responds to research about building foundations for healthy child and youth development. Youth justice policies and services support healthy engagement and inclusion of youth.

Some examples of effective programming include:

• Implementation of a Probation Strategy to strengthen and position the delivery of probation services in support of the ministry's mandate and strategic goals. The Strategy is based on the research associated with reduced re-offending as well as the broader research on healthy development, youth resiliency and youth diversity, and inclusion
• Providing a continuum of evidence-informed programs and services that address prevention, diversion, reintegration, rehabilitation for youth in, or at risk of, conflict with the law
• Using research about the effectiveness of positive and professional staff/youth interactions to support a Relationship Custody approach in youth centres and deliver training for staff in custody/detention facilities and probation that supports assessing and using a youth's strengths as an effective way of working with youth and
• Implementation of the Youth Justice Outcomes Framework to comprehensively measure, demonstrate, and improve the impact of services on youth.

In 2013-14, the average daily count in Youth Justice was 6,961 (6,549 community/probation caseload, 155 in open custody/detention and 257 in secure custody/detention).

Performance measure: Number of youth who re-offend as a percentage of all youths tracked (Fiscal Year).

The re-offending data presented below is based on a 24-month tracking of two cohorts of youth. The cohorts include: youth who completed an open and/or secure custody order of six months or more and youth who completed a probation order. The number of youth in each cohort may fluctuate.

Parameters for performance measurement are impacted by a decrease in the custody cohort size year over year. (i.e., cohort has reduced from 251 for the 2011-12 study, to 203 for 2013-14. For the majority of youth in the justice system, (those serving their sentences in the community and not in custody), the re-offending rate has not increased.

To address the reduction in the custody cohort, the ministry is undertaking a review of the current reporting measurement for re-offending.

Note: Actual 2014-15 data not yet available
Source: Youth- Offender Tracking and Information System

Youth Action Plan

Youth Action Plan and Youth Opportunities Strategy programs are delivered by agencies and community partners in more than 30 communities.

These youth opportunities programs have a range of objectives, including increasing the opportunities for meaningful employment for at-risk youth and providing outreach supports to connect those most at-risk to services. In 2014-15, at-risk youth received summer employment experience through the Jobs for Youth (JFY) Program, the Youth in Policing Initiative (YIPI), and year-round support from the Youth Outreach Workers Program. In 2014-15, over 5,100 youth were provided with employment opportunities through JFY and 630 through YIPI.

• 4,612 youth were placed in summer jobs and 530 in after-school jobs (target figure) with local employers through the Jobs for Youth Program
• 379 placements were funded for the 2014-15 summer program, and 251 placements were planned for the 2014-15 after-school program with local police services in the YIPI and
• Approximately 11,500 hard-to-reach youth were provided advice and were connected to appropriate services through the Youth Outreach Worker Program using the new Stages of Change referral tool.

Performance measure: Summer job and training opportunities for vulnerable youth - Number of Youth Served (Youth In Policing Initiative, Jobs For Youth, and Youth Served by Youth Outreach Workers).

Service data is based on actual data with the exception of JFY After-school program which is a target figure.

Specialized services

Autism Spectrum Disorders

In 2014-15, the ministry invested $192 million in services for children with ASD.

The number of children with ASD receiving IBI has increased from 675 in 2004-05 to an estimated 1,465 in 2014-15. The ministry is also responding to calls for transparency and consistency in decisions related to IBI therapy by making improvements to the AIP. The ministry has established an Independent Review Mechanism to allow families to request an independent review of decisions related to their child's eligibility or to their child's discharge from IBI services provided through AIP. In 2013-14, 2,148 children received IBI through AIP. The ministry has also established an ASD Clinical Expert Committee that provides advice to government on emerging research and best clinical practices.

In 2014-15, the ministry invested $25 million in ABA-based services and supports to help children and youth with ASD improve behaviour management or emotional regulation, communication, social/interpersonal and daily living skills. 2014-15, approximately 8,000 children and youth with ASD benefitted annually from these services in communities across Ontario. In 2013-14, the ministry sent more than 2,600 children with autism to March Break and summer camps.

The ministry provides a range of services and supports to children and youth with ASD. Programs and services include:

• The AIP provides IBI and associated services such as transition services to children who have been diagnosed with autism that is considered to be toward the severe end of the autism spectrum
• ABA-based Services and Supports provides time-limited skill-building services to children and youth with ASD. These services are intended to improve children's communication, social/interpersonal, daily living, and behavioural/emotional skills
• The School Support Program (SSP) provides child-specific services that support the learning needs of individual students with ASD in schools (including transition supports provided through the Connections for Students initiative) and broader capacity-building supports for school boards and schools (e.g. training for educators) and
• Respite services, including ASD Respite, Summer Camps, and March Break camps so that families can receive temporary relief while engaging their children in meaningful skill-building activities.

The ministry also supports programs for parents of children/youth with ASD, including the Potential Program, which offers one-to-one support for families through parent support networks, training, resource materials, and social learning opportunities.

Performance measure: Autism Intervention Program – Number of children receiving IBI and ABA.

Figures reflect the actual total number of children who received service. For 2014-15, figures reflect the forecasted total number of children to receive service.

Note: The ABA program began service delivery part way through the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Note: ABA reflects non-unique total meaning some children may have received service more than once in the fiscal year

Ontario Child Benefit (OCB)

The OCB gives low to moderate-income families financial support to help with the costs of raising children. In July 2007, eligible families received a one-time OCB down payment of up to $250 for each dependent child under age 18 and in July 2008, monthly payments began. In July 2009, the OCB increased the maximum annual payment to $1,100 per child. Between 2009 and 2014 the OCB was increased twice to $1,310 per year per child under the age of 18. Starting July 2015, future increases to the OCB will be tied to inflation using the Ontario Consumer Price Index. In July 2015 the annual maximum benefit rate will increase to $1,336 per eligible child and the Adjusted Family Net Income threshold will increase to $20,400. This will help eligible families keep pace with the costs of raising children.

Cost Sharing with the Federal Government

Independent of block funding received by the province under the Canada Social Transfer (CST), the province receives federal funding under the following cost-sharing agreements:

• Indian Welfare Services Agreement
• Memorandum of Agreement and Supplementary Agreement Respecting Federal Contributions to Youth Justice Services and Programs.

For the 2015-16 fiscal year, federal contributions are estimated at:

Statutes administered by the ministry

British Home Child Day Act, 2011, S.O. 2011, c.14

Child and Family Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.11
(Except for sections 162 – 165 inclusive, sections 96, 176.1 and 207, and clauses 217(1) (k) and 222(k)

Children and Youth in Care Day Act, 2014, S.O. 2014, c.2

Health Protection and Promotion Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.7
(In so far as it relates to the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program as described in guidelines published under section 7)

Intercountry Adoption Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 29

Ministry of Community and Social Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.20
(In so far as it relates to activities and programs respecting children and youth services, subject to the sharing with the Minister of Education of responsibility for the administration of the Act as it relates to child care services and programs, and except for sections 11.1 and 12 in so far as those sections relate to Long-Term Care Programs and Services)

Ontario Child Benefit Equivalent Act, 2009, S.O. 2009, c.18, Schedule 19

Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth Act, 2007, S.O. 2007, c. 9

Ministry financial information

Table 1: Ministry planned expenditures 2015-16

Table 2: Combined operating and capital summary by vote^{footnote 4[4]footnote 5[5]footnote 6[6]}

Operating

Operating assets

Capital

Capital asset

Ministry total operating and capital including consolidation and other adjustments

Interim actuals reflect the numbers presented in the 2015 Ontario Budget.

Amounts have been restated to reflect the transfer of funding to the Ministry of Education and adjustments within the Children and Youth Services Program.

Amounts have been restated to reflect the transfer of funding to the Ministry of Finance relate to Local Poverty Reduction Fund.

Appendix

Child and youth mental health

Mental health services for children and youth are currently delivered through more than 260 child and youth mental health agencies, 17 hospital-based outpatient programs, one directly-operated child and youth mental health centre, as well as on-site clinical supports at six directly-operated youth justice secure custody/detention facilities, and by a number of multi-service agencies, who provide services to children and youth with multiple needs (e.g., youth justice and mental health).

Through Ontario's Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, the ministry and its partners continued to build a system that delivers what children and youth need, when they need it, as close to home as possible. The Strategy is strengthening services for children and youth, creating a more integrated and responsive system, and building awareness and capacity within the education system to support students and their families.

New supports and services across Ontario continued to focus on three key areas:

• Faster access to high quality services so kids with mental health needs receive the right type of services, at the right time, when they need it
• Identifying kids with mental health needs earlier and getting them the right help sooner to support them to stay in school, graduate and lead fulfilling and productive lives and
• More services and supports to meet the unique needs of vulnerable kids, Aboriginal children and youth, and those living in remote communities.

Children and their families were able to access mental health services closer to their home due to more than 770 new mental health workers in schools, courts and communities. More than 80 new mental health and addictions workers are helping almost 4,000 Aboriginal children and youth get better access to culturally appropriate services.

Ontario's new Tele-Mental Health Service is providing more than 3,500 psychiatric consults this year to benefit children and youth in rural, remote and underserved communities. All publicly funded mental health professionals are now able to refer young people to the new Tele-Mental Health Services.

As part of the Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, Ontario's youth suicide prevention plan is helping communities to respond better to young people in crisis. Through the plan, the ministry has:

• Provided funding to communities across the province to strengthen their local youth suicide prevention efforts
• Organized annual community mobilization forums to bring together professionals working with young people at risk or in crisis - in Ottawa, Toronto, London, Sudbury and Thunder Bay - to support continued cross sector mobilization on youth suicide prevention
• Partnered with the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health to develop a web-based guide and coaching supports to help communities mobilize their youth suicide prevention efforts and
• Provided additional targeted supports to First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and urban Aboriginal partners to develop culturally-appropriate, community-driven solutions to youth suicide prevention.

Building on the Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, ‘Moving on Mental Health – a system that makes sense for children and youth' is the next step in transforming the child and youth mental health system. Moving on Mental Health is transforming the experience of children and youth with mental health problems and their families so that regardless of where they live in Ontario they will know what mental health services are available in their communities and how to access services and supports that meet their needs. Moving on Mental Health transformation includes establishing lead agencies in every Ontario community that will be responsible for the planning and delivery of service, and identifying core services. In 2013-14, the ministry identified core services, announced service areas across the province, and began the process of identifying lead agencies. In 2014-15, MCYS identified 16 lead agencies and launched the identification process for the remaining service areas. Identified lead agencies have begun the planning process in their service areas with community-based agencies and broader sector partners.

The Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health continued its work to improve the quality and effectiveness of child and youth mental health services by promoting evidence-based practices and knowledge transfer to front-line service providers.

Services and supports for children and youth with autism spectrum disorder

A range of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)-based services continued to benefit approximately 8,000 children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in 2014-15. These services help young people with ASD become more independent, develop communication, social, behaviour management and daily living skills, and cope better in school.

In 2014-15, approximately 2,074 children received Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) through the Autism Intervention Program (AIP).

Training and support continued to be offered to parents so they can incorporate strategies into daily activities at home and further develop the skills their children are learning at school and/or in a program delivered by an autism service provider. This training and support helps parents better address the needs of their children and build their own skills.

In 2014-15, the ministry continued to:

• Support the Potential Program (formerly known as Realize Community Potential), which helps reduce the stress on families by providing supports like parent networking opportunities, training and access to ASD experts and resources
• Provide funding to help children and youth with ASD attend March break programs and summer camps, where children enjoy making new friends, learning new skills, and participating in activities such as swimming, arts and crafts, bowling, skating, and music
• Fund respite services for families caring for a child with ASD and
• Work with the Ministry of Education to help children leaving the AIP and starting or continuing in a publicly-funded school through the Connections for Students collaborative service delivery model. This model provides multi-disciplinary transition teams for children in all 72 publicly-funded school boards across the province.

The ASD Clinical Expert Committee continued to provide the ministry with expert advice on up-to-date and evidence-based research to help inform policy and program development. In addition, the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) continued to allow families to request an independent review of decisions about their child's eligibility for, or discharge from, IBI services provided through the AIP. This enhances consistency, transparency, and fairness in clinical decision-making. The IRM applies to all MCYS-funded IBI service providers in the province.

The ministry also continued to provide funding for the Grant Assistance Program (GAP). This program offers tuition reimbursement for qualifying academic programs in exchange for continuous employment to currently employed staff of the AIP and ABA-based services and supports.

Children's treatment and rehabilitation services

The ministry continues to fund Children's Treatment Centres (CTCs) to provide core rehabilitation services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy, to children and youth up to 19 years of age with physical and/or developmental disabilities, chronic illness and/or communication disorders.

CTCs may also offer a variety of other services and clinics – such as supports for children and youth with ASD, preschool speech and language therapy, school health support services, respite, and developmental programs – depending on local needs and the mix of providers in each community.

Twenty of Ontario's 21 CTCs are funded by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care because it provides in-patient services.

In 2014-15, the ministry increased annual funding to CTCs by an additional $5 million to improve access to and reduce wait times for core rehabilitation services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech language pathology.

The ministry continued funding respite services for families with children who are medically-fragile, technologically dependent or who have physical and/or developmental disabilities. Services are provided in the family home or in a setting outside the home, such as a group home.

Special Needs strategy

Working with the ministries of Community and Social Services, Education, and Health and Long-Term Care, the ministry launched a Special Needs Strategy in February 2014 with steps to improve services for children and youth with special needs and their families. This includes:

• Identifying children with special needs earlier and getting them the right help sooner: A new preschool developmental screening process will help families, caregivers and child-serving professionals identify early signs or risks for delays to development in children from birth to 6 years of age.
• Coordinated service planning: A new coordinated service planning process for children and youth with multiple and/or complex special needs will mean that families will have a trusted partner to help them connect with the right services and supports, without having to tell their stories multiple times.
• Making the delivery of supports and services more seamless: Improvements to make rehabilitation services, including speech-language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy, easier to access and seamlessly delivered from birth through the school years.

In 2014-15, 34 special needs service delivery areas were put in place. These service delivery areas are based on census divisions and aligned with the new child and youth mental health service delivery areas. The ministries released two provincial policy guidelines that outline the vision and the ministries' minimum expectations for coordinated service planning and the integrated delivery of rehabilitation services.

The ministries asked children's agencies and other service providers, including health service providers and district school boards, to establish proposal development tables to develop proposals for the implementation of coordinated service planning and the integrated delivery of rehabilitation services in each of the 34 service delivery areas. Proposals must fulfil the requirements outlined in the provincial policy guidelines and proposal instructions. Proposals are due to the ministries in June 2015 for coordinated service planning and in October 2015 for the integrated delivery of rehabilitation services. The developmental screening initiative is being developed by a team of scientists, researchers, and experts in the field. A Developmental Screen Provincial Consultation group is providing advice on the implementation on the screening process. The approach to implementation will be informed by research and evidence, grounded in a strong understanding of child development, emerging approaches and best practices currently being evaluated in Ontario communities and effective local service delivery models that are already in place in Ontario.

Complex special needs

Through Complex Special Needs funding, the ministry continued to fund time-limited specialized supports to children and youth with complex and/or multiple needs when existing local and regional services and resources are not able to address the immediate health and safety of the child.

Children and youth receiving Complex Special Needs-funded supports include those who:

• Have two or more special needs requiring integrated service approaches that cross sectors (e.g., health, education, and social services) with services often being provided at a number of different locations and
• Have needs associated with a variety of conditions (e.g., physical, intellectual, emotional, and developmental disabilities and chronic, severe and/or terminal illness) including those who are medically fragile and/or technologically dependent and
• Require specialized services and supports to participate in daily living activities, on a long-term, continuous and/or intermittent basis (e.g., residential services).

Child protection services

Child protection services help children and youth who have been, or are at risk of being, abused or neglected, grow up in safer, more stable, caring environments.

In 2014-15 the ministry funded 46 Children's Aid Societies (CASs), including seven Aboriginal CASs (in 2015-16 the ministry now funds 47 CASs , nine of which are Aboriginal) to perform the following functions: investigate allegations of child abuse, neglect and/or risk of harm; provide protection services to children and prevention/protection services designed to strengthen the ability of families to safely care for their children; provide and supervise alternate living arrangements when children cannot remain safely at home; and facilitate adoptions for Crown wards or other permanent living arrangements for children who are receiving child protection services.

In 2014-15, the ministry took action on a number of key recommendations made by the former Commission to Promote Sustainable Child Welfare, including:

• Continued implementation of the new funding model for child welfare that takes into account the recommendations of the Commission in the development of an alternative approach to funding child welfare
• Implementing a new approach to accountability for the child welfare sector which includes 26 new PIs
• Supporting a sector-led initiative to develop and implement a program of shared services for the sector, including back-office and service delivery functions and
• Exploring the feasibility of amalgamating additional CASs .

The ministry released ‘Formal Customary Care: A Practice Guide to Principles, Processes and Best Practices', a tool for CAS workers to help increase the uptake of customary care among First Nations communities. The guide helps CAS workers understand the importance of First Nations children and youth maintaining strong connections to their culture and communities through formal customary care arrangements.

CPIN was declared ready for use in June 2014 and was implemented at five CASs by the end of 2014-15. 5,355 families being served by CASs (20% of families in the child protection system across Ontario) are recorded and are actively being supported in the CPIN system.

To help more children and youth find permanent homes, the ministry continued implementing a policy directive that enables CASs to provide subsidies for eligible parents who adopt or take legal custody of Crown wards who are 10 years and older, or who are siblings. CASs provided subsidies of $950 per month, per child, or $11,400 per year, per child, to families with a net annual income of up to $85,000. The new funding is in addition to existing subsidies that most CASs already provide to some adoptive families. The ministry continued working with a number of Aboriginal service providers seeking designation as Aboriginal CASs .

Reducing poverty

The ministry continued to focus on initiatives that mitigate the effects of poverty for children and youth -and that reduce child poverty in our province. Highlights include:

• 47,000 children and their families have been lifted out of poverty between 2008 and 2011
• About one million children in over 500,000 families are being helped by the Ontario Child Benefit. In addition, indexing the Ontario Child Benefit to keep pace with inflation which will result in the maximum annual child benefit increasing to $1,336 per child as of July 1, 2015
• Investing $32 million over the next three years to expand the Student Nutrition Program to serve about 56,000 more school-aged children and youth. During the 2013-14 school year, the program served more than 756,000 children and youth.

Ontario Child Benefit and Ontario Child Benefit Equivalent

The Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) is an income-tested, non-taxable benefit that helps low-to moderate-income families provide for their children. In 2014-15, the OCB provided support to more than one million children in over 500,000 low-to moderate-income families. Families received up to a maximum of $1,210 per child under the age of 18. In 2015-16, about one million children, in over 500,000 low- to moderate-income families will receive up to a maximum of $1,310 per child per year, an increase of $100 from 2014-15. The maximum will increase to $1,336 per child per year in July 2015, when the OCB is indexed to the Ontario Consumer Price Index. To be eligible for the benefit, parents need to file their annual income taxes and register their child for the Canada Child Tax Benefit.

The ministry also provided funding equivalent to the maximum OCB to children and youth in the care of Children's Aid Societies and in Formal Customary Care. This funding helps provide supports such as tutoring, skills building, and recreational programs to all children and youth in care. Older youth also participate in a savings program to help them prepare for independence and the transition to adulthood. These youth gain access to their savings when they leave care.

Youth Justice services

The ministry has successfully repositioned youth justice programs and services to create a system that reduces re-offending, contributes to community safety, and prevents youth crime through rehabilitative programming, while holding youth accountable and creating opportunities for youth at risk.

The ministry continued to provide evidence-informed community and custodial programs, ranging from diversion to reintegration of youth after detention or custody. During the year, fewer youth came into custody, with the majority of youth receiving service/supervision in the community, including diversion, rehabilitation, probation, and supports for youth with mental health needs.

Youth who are placed in custody and detention facilities are given the opportunity to participate in education and rehabilitative programs that help them develop the skills they need to achieve success in the community. Programs include skills development, substance abuse counselling, and anger management. Probation officers continued to provide case management support to youth who have been sentenced by the courts and worked with youth in detention to enhance the transition to community supports and services.

The ministry continued to strengthen the youth justice service system. Priorities include continuous improvement through evidence-informed programs and services, responding to special populations (Aboriginal, mental health, gender), using a strengths-based approach to probation case management, improving educational outcomes for youth in the youth justice system, optimizing the use of youth justice facilities, collaboration for broader system approach to prevention/diversion and improved coordination/collaboration across service sectors.

Residential services

Children and youth may come into residential care through a court order under the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA), a temporary care agreement, or as a result of being in conflict with the law. Other children may require residential care due to developmental and physical challenges, medically-fragile conditions, behavioural difficulties, psychiatric disorders, or substance abuse.

Residential care is provided through group or foster care settings or youth justice custody/detention facilities. As of March 11, 2015, the ministry funded more than 3,300 beds in 434 group homes, approximately 12,000 beds in over 7,500 foster homes, and capacity for approximately 940 beds in youth justice dedicated residential settings.

Healthy Babies Healthy Children

The Healthy Babies Healthy Children (HBHC) Program continued to screen pregnant women and new mothers; offer information on healthy child development and parenting to families with newborns; and provide extra support through home visiting interventions to vulnerable families.

Early years community support

The ministry continued to support healthy child development through the following programs:

• Infant Hearing Program, which identifies babies born deaf or hard of hearing and provides services to these children and their families to support language and early literacy development
• Blind-Low Vision Program, which provides critical early intervention and parent education services needed by families of children born blind or with low vision to help them achieve healthy development
• Preschool Speech and Language Program, which identifies children with speech and language delays/disorders as early as possible and provides these children with services to enable them to develop communication and early literacy skills and
• Infant Development Program, which provides early intervention services for children up to age five with, or at risk of, developmental delays.

The Student Nutrition Program continued to help provide nutritious meals and snacks to children and youth including those in higher-needs communities – to support learning and healthy growth and development. In 2013-14 school year, the Student Nutrition Program helped provide nutritious breakfasts, snacks and lunches to over 756,000 school-age children and youth.

As part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, in 2014-15, an additional investment was made to the Student Nutrition Program. 190 new breakfast and morning meal programs began in January 2015 reaching more than 31,000 children and youth in higher-needs communities and enhanced program supports were provided to approximately 300 existing programs. The province also commenced work to support the planning and development of First Nations on-reserve student nutrition programs in partnership with Political Territorial Organizations, Tribal Councils and First Nations.

Youth Action Plan

Stepping Up: A Strategic Framework to Help Ontario's Youth Succeed was publicly released in June 2013 and is a strategy that provides a common vision, guiding principles, themes, and outcomes that are important for Ontario's youth.

The development of Stepping Up was a commitment in the government's Youth Action Plan, released in August 2012. Stepping Up builds on earlier research from the Review of the Roots of Youth Violence report (2008) and with up-to-date research and evidence on youth as outlined in Stepping Stones: A Resource on Youth Development, released in June 2012.

In 2014, the first Stepping Up annual report was released. The annual report highlights the government's initiatives to support youth. It demonstrates that Ontario has invested in all seven Stepping Up themes for youth wellbeing. The annual report also provides an updated Profile of Youth Wellbeing and provides an updated picture of how Ontario's youth are doing.

Stepping Up identifies key initiatives and cross-cutting actions to support a positive asset-based view of Ontario's youth in the youth-serving sector. In 2014-15 activities and initiatives related to Stepping Up and the Youth Action Plan included:

• Providing funding for the new Youth Research and Evaluation Exchange (YouthREX) program to provide research and evaluation resources, tools, supports, and services to Ontario's youth-serving sector in order to help improve outcomes for youth
• Providing funding for the Youth Collective Impact (youthCI) program to support and strengthen local collaboration and collective impact to foster youth wellbeing and improve outcomes for at-risk youth in communities across Ontario
• Supporting the Premier's Council on Youth Opportunities, the permanent advisory body of youth and young professionals, front-line workers and other leaders from the youth-serving sector who provide advice to government on issues relating to youth, including how to enhance existing youth-oriented programs, policies, strategies and resources
• Supporting a private sector jobs and mentoring initiative led by the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance (CivicAction), a council of community and business leaders, to explore barriers and identify opportunities for disadvantaged young people. The Escalator: Jobs for Youth Facing Barriers report, released in 2014-15, documents findings from cross-sector stakeholder engagement and presents recommendations for private-sector led action and
• Supporting grassroots, youth-led and community based initiatives for at-risk youth in the Greater Toronto Area (Durham, Halton, Peel, Toronto and York) by providing $5 million for the Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF ) program. The YOF is delivered by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and is guided by Stepping Up: A Strategic Framework to Help Ontario's Youth Succeed.

Services and supports for Aboriginal children and youth

The ministry continued to support the unique needs of First Nations (on and off reserve), Métis, and Inuit young people across Ontario in 2014-15. It continued to fund the Aboriginal Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program, the Aboriginal Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder/Child Nutrition Program, Aboriginal child protection services and prevention initiatives, the Akwe:go and Wasa-Nabin Urban Aboriginal Programs, and community-based programs for Aboriginal youth in, or at risk of, conflict with the law.

As part of Ontario's Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, funding was provided to hire more than 80 new Aboriginal mental health and addictions workers across the province to help almost 4,000 Aboriginal children and young people get better access to culturally-appropriate mental health and addiction services. These new workers provide counselling, individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, and a range of traditional health services, including traditional teachings and ceremonies. Funding for training needs was made available to Aboriginal agencies that provide child and youth mental health services.

The ministry is implementing a long-term plan for training supports for Aboriginal Mental Health and Addictions Workers in First Nations, Metis, Inuit and urban Aboriginal communities to build and enhance worker knowledge, competencies, and skill capacity to support them in providing high quality mental health services to children and youth. The plan is being implemented over three fiscal years starting in 2014-15 and consists of:

• A Professional Development (PD) Fund
• Mobile Training Teams (pilot in 2014-15 and 2015-16)
• A Short Term Intensive Course on Aboriginal Mental Health and Addictions and
• An Aboriginal Mental Health and Addictions Workers' Training Committee.

In January 2013, Ontario announced its plans to work collaboratively with First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and urban Aboriginal partners on an Aboriginal Children and Youth Strategy to improve outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal children and youth by transforming the way in which services are designed and delivered.

The Strategy engagement process was formally launched in summer 2013 with three Leadership Roundtables hosted by the Ministers of Children and Youth Services and Aboriginal Affairs. The Leadership Roundtables are as follows:

• Inuit Leadership Roundtable
• Métis and Urban Aboriginal Leadership Roundtable
• First Nations Leadership Roundtable

Leadership representation at the Inuit Leadership Roundtable includes:

• Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre (OICC)
• Tungasuvvingat Inuit (TI)

Leadership representation at the Métis and urban Aboriginal Leadership Roundtable includes:

• Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO)
• Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC)
• Ontario Native Women's Association (ONWA)

Leadership representation at the First Nations Leadership Roundtable includes:

• Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN)
• Anishinabek Nation/ Union of Ontario Indians (AN/UOI)
• Grand Council Treaty #3 (GCT3)
• Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI)
• Independent First Nations (IFN)
• Six Nations of Grand River
• Chiefs of Ontario (COO)
• Ontario First Nations Young Peoples Council (OFNYPC)

The ministry also hosted Leadership Roundtables in fall 2014 and winter 2015.

In addition to the Leadership Roundtables, a number of engagement mechanisms were utilized, including engagement with over 500 Aboriginal youth to gain their insight and perspectives for the Strategy.

The ministry continued working with a number of Aboriginal service providers seeking designation as Aboriginal CASs. In particular, two agencies, Kina Gbezhgomi Child and Family Services and Kunuwanimano Child and Family Services took final steps towards designation which occurred early in the 2015-16 fiscal year.

Youth leaving care

The ministry continued to develop initiatives in response to recommendations made in the Youth Leaving Care Working Group report, A Blueprint for Fundamental Change to Ontario's Child Welfare System, released in January 2013.

Monthly financial support for eligible youth leaving care aged 18 to 21 increased from $663/month to $850/month through the Continued Care and Support for Youth Program.

The Living and Learning Grant, launched in August 2013, provides $2,000 per semester ($500 per month) to youth leaving care aged 21 to 24 inclusive, enrolled in Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) eligible post-secondary education and training programs. The grant helps students cover their living costs.

Sixty Youth in Transition workers will help young people ages 16-24 leaving the care of a CAS secure local, affordable housing; find education and employment resources to help cover the cost of postsecondary education and training, or to find a job; identify skills training, such as financial literacy courses and meal planning; access health and mental health services; and locate legal services, including advice for youth in conflict with the law.

The new Aftercare Benefits Initiative will also help youth leaving the care of a CAS. Eligible young people ages 21-24 will have access to health and dental services, including prescription drugs, vision care and hearing aids; extended health services, such as physiotherapy, psychotherapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic treatment; and additional benefits including therapy and counseling.

Bill 53, An Act to Proclaim Children and Youth in Care Day was unanimously passed in the Ontario Legislature. Designating May 14^th as ‘Children and Youth in Care Day' was one of the recommendations made in My REAL Life Book, an insightful report released on May 14, 2012 by the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth that summarized the Youth Leaving Care Hearings held at Queen's Park in November 2011.

Transition planning

The ministry continued working with the ministries of Community and Social Services and Education to implement integrated transition planning processes for young people with developmental disabilities. This work is aimed at ensuring that every young person with a developmental disability has a single integrated transition plan that identifies the steps they need to take to attain their goals related to work, further education and living in the community. Implementation of integrated, tri-sector transition planning began in September 2013.

Capital investments to support service delivery

Investing in infrastructure is critical to helping vulnerable Ontarians and building strong communities. In 2014-15, the ministry invested over $50 million to help social service agencies better serve children, youth, and their families through new construction or upgrades to existing facilities. The redevelopment of two new CTCs with sites in Hamilton, Brampton, Mississauga, and Oakville had continued progress in 2014-15.

The ministry continues to work collaboratively with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional services on a transformational initiative to optimize capacity in the Youth Justice sector and to address capacity pressures and mental health needs in adult female correctional facilities.

Ministry interim actual expenditures 2014-15

Ministry interim actual expenditures 2014-15^{footnote 7[7]}