The ministries of Children and Youth Services, Community and Social Services, Education and Health and Long-Term Care are moving forward with a strategy to improve services for children and youth with special needs in Ontario guided by the following vision: “An Ontario where children and youth with special needs get the timely and effective services they need to participate fully at home, at school, in the community, and as they prepare to achieve their goals for adulthood.” First steps in the Special Needs Strategy include:

• Developing and implementing a new standard developmental screen for preschool children;
• Putting in place coordinated child- and family-centred service planning for children and youth with multiple and/or complex needs; and
• Working with communities to develop local implementation plans for an integrated approach to the delivery of child and youth rehabilitation services (speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy).

This site includes information, tools and reports for communities as we work together to build a system that is accessible, coordinated and centred on the needs of children, youth and families.

Areas of Focus

More information about each of the first three initiatives under the Special Needs Strategy can be found by selecting the links below.

• Developmental Screen
• Coordinated Service Planning
• Integrated Delivery of Rehabilitation Services