Foster a culture of accountability and stewardship to support community needs

Building Relationships: CTN’s Collaboration to Strengthen Services

This past year, we continued to build key relationships with government representatives at all levels to help generate greater awareness of CTN and the kids, youth and families we support. The Honourable Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) and MPP of Aurora – Oak Ridges – Richmond Hill, attended our 2023 Annual Meeting and delivered remarks. CTN was also pleased to attend two events from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services in the winter of 2024 regarding new funding for access to pediatric services in Simcoe County and York Region.

Working Together: Service Navigation Within the Network to Better Support Families

Listening to families to understand their strengths and needs is critical when connecting them with the right services and resources for their child. CTN’s SmartStart Hub (SSH) serves as a central access point for families in York Region and Simcoe County who have concerns about their child’s development. Our team of Service Navigators (SN) are an initial touchpoint for families seeking support. The SNs work with families to understand their goals, assist them with navigating CTN programs and services, and link them to community resources and services available within the network. By asking questions that are open-ended, inclusive and strengths-based about the child’s development and participation, SNs learn about each family's preferences. They provide navigation support in areas such as health care, school support and social and recreational opportunities. Through this holistic, streamlined process, families share their story with our SNs, which helps them facilitate appropriate connections for families that fit their identified priorities. Throughout the last year, over 4,500 clients and families from our community received support from our SNs.

Family-centred High-quality Services: Modernizing our Speech Therapy Services

Over the last year, CTN worked with families and network partners to modernize our approach to speech therapy offered through School Based Rehabilitation Services (SBRS). Based on extensive engagement and collaborative consultation, we launched two new evidence-informed service delivery models for fluency and speech sound disorders. Over 25 meetings occurred with 30 families, six service provider organizations (1to1 Rehab, Closing the Gap, Monarch House, Speech Specialists, RNS Health Care Services and The Speech Clinic), nine school board partners, researchers and other children's treatment centres to support the design of these service delivery models and clinical pathways. Our new service delivery model aims to provide high quality services that are customized to the needs of kids and youth in SBRS. Our model encourages increased family and caregiver participation in speech therapy, so that they can be empowered with simple strategies and effectively support speech practice to improve therapy outcomes. Our modernization efforts aim to enhance overall service experience and decrease wait times for speech therapy. These changes take a family-centred approach to our SBRS Speech Therapy services, allowing the network to maximize how we provide timely and appropriate service to kids and youth and better support the needs of our local communities.

Partnering to Support Service Delivery: Extensive Needs Service in York Region

Collaboration is essential when providing the right services, at the right time, for kids, youth and their families. Children’s Treatment Network (CTN) recently joined Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital to deliver Extensive Needs Service (ENS) to families in York Region. ENS is funded by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. It is a critical service for kids and youth facing multiple medical, physical, developmental and social challenges who might otherwise end up frequently visiting emergency departments, being admitted to hospitals unnecessarily and repeatedly referred to urgent and crisis services. The services within ENS provide individualized treatment and bring together different clinical disciplines, and other professionals to reduce barriers to accessing timely, evidence-based treatment and improve the health and quality of life for kids, youth and their families. CTN is delivering ENS with our partners Catulpa Community Support Services, Kinark Child and Family Serivces, Mackenzie Health Centre for Behaviour Health Sciences and Oak Valley Health.

Learn more about ENS by visiting the Programs and Services page on the CTN website.

ctn logo with text white
Better Together: A vibrant community where all kids, youth and families belong
Social Media
@CTNKids

Visit our website at ctnsy.ca for more information about CTN's services and a list of locations in York Region and Simcoe County.

Corporate Office:
13175 Yonge Street
Richmond Hill, Ontario L4E 0G6
1-866-377-0286
Email: info@ctnsy.ca
Children’s Treatment Network is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) and works in close collaboration with network partners funded by MCCSS and other ministries including the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health.
Charitable Registration #: 830649141RR0001