Ford Government fails to meet Autism Program target

BY PAUL JUNOR

There have been many discussions and conversations since the Ford government was elected in 2019 about the state of funding for Autism Programs in Ontario. In the fall update by the Ontario government, details were revealed about what changes that would be done to implement the needs-based Ontario Autism Program. This update can be seen on the Province of Ontario’s website:www.ontario.ca. Details are outlined of what the government expects for 2022.

It launched the Independent Intake Organization (IIO) which was renamed the Access OAP Ontario Autism Program that supports families and independent youth in April 2022. It was intended that families with eligible children and youth registered in the OAP who are in need of autism services have access to at least 12 weeks of support free of charge. The responsibilities of the LLO were spelled out:

• Registering the children and youth for the Ontario Autism Program
• Connecting families with a care coordinator as a main point of contact
• Completing the determination of needs process to identify a child’s level of support need and funding allocation for core clinical services.
• Helping families navigate services and community-based supports
• Facilitating regional service networks of service providers to support a coordinated and integrated service experience for children, youth and their families
• Coordinating an independent review process for families

The update notes that the government expects that by fall 2022, 8,000 children and youth will have access to funding that will help them to obtain core clinical services. In addition, behaviour plans were extended for children with existing OAP, an Entry to School Program was launched, and plans were set in place to launch urgent response services. There is also a workplace capacity fund of $14.5 million as part of the OAP capacity action plan to increase skilled personnel to help families access these core clinical services.

On Wednesday, December 21^st, 2022, the Ontario Autism Coalition released a press release titled, “Ford Government Fails to Meet Autism Program Target.” The press release mentioned that the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services (MCCSS) had missed its target, “To provide 8,000 children and youth with funding to purchase core clinical services by fall 2022.” The press release listed these four points:

We remind MCCSS that the Ontario Autism Program is an extremely time sensitive file.

While the ministry fumbles along, children and youth are losing precious developmental years. Kids don’t have this time to lose as delays cause real harm to their development and reduce the amount of funding they can qualify for due to arbitrary age-based caps.

Continued lack of consistency from the ministry.

The ministry has been almost silent on the state of the OAP, and those working within the program have provided conflicting information to our community, leading to confusion about the complex and constantly changing steps required to access the program.

Ongoing service capacity issues.

Nearly five years of delay to the OAP have decimated service capacity across Ontario. These ongoing capacity issues and resulting waitlists at providers have created barriers for families who may have funding but nowhere to spend it.

The new OAP has systemic issues.

Funding is determined by third parties/bureaucrats and includes arbitrary age categories. This means funding allotments leave children with the greatest need far behind.

The press release concludes, “It truly seems that the OAP is being thrown together haphazardly and as such, our community is understandably confused about complex processes, timelines and we feel left behind. We want clear, consistent, and regular messaging from MCCSS leadership about the process families must follow to access the program, and a plan for the over 50,000 families still waiting their turn.”

Anyone interested in learning about the Ontario Autism Coalition check social media: ontarioautismcoalition.com