Mr Garfield Dunlop (Simcoe North):
My question today is also to the Minister of
Children and Youth Services. A $24-million capital
investment in children's treatment centres was
included in your budget. This is actually on
page 16. They acknowledge that CTCs "help
parents obtain and coordinate a range of services
for their children with disabilities."
Parents of the approximately 23,000 children
with disabilities in Simcoe county and York
region are without a children's treatment centre,
and 6,000 of the children need multiple rehabilitation
services such as speech, physio, and/or occupational
therapy. Can you indicate to the House and to
the parents of York region and Simcoe county
who have children with disabilities that the
$24 million includes funding for them?
Hon Marie Bountrogianni (Minister of
Children and Youth Services, Minister of Citizenship
and Immigration): I will respond to
the Simcoe situation in my supplementary. I'd
like to reiterate that not only will we be giving
$24 million for badly needed capital funding
for the treatment centres, but we will also
be giving a 3% increase for their base funding
as well. We will continue to work with all service
providers, including our children's treatment
centres, including the community in Simcoe-York
on these issues.
Mr Dunlop: Children with disabilities
and their families access ongoing rehabilitation
services at children's treatment centres everywhere
in the province except in Simcoe county and
York region. As you know from your previous
experience and your previous work, access to
these rehabilitation services is considered
critical to the optimal development of children
with disabilities.
The proposal for a children's integrated rehabilitation
service system to deliver these services in
Simcoe and York has received internal approvals
from the different ministries. That's my understanding.
When will the government provide the capital
and operational funding to deliver core rehabilitation
services to the children and youth in Simcoe
county and York region? I reiterate, it's the
only area of the province that does not have
a children's treatment centre.
Hon Mrs Bountrogianni: I am
aware of the Simcoe York District Health Council's
proposal for integration of rehabilitation services
for children and youth of your county, and I
understand the increasing pressures faced with
that growing region. In fact, my ministry will
be working with the district health council
to find solutions. To begin the dialogue, my
ministry staff have contacted the health council
and they are in the process of setting up a
meeting to discuss the proposal. It is an innovative
proposal. It deals with the coordination and
integration of services, which is the direction
we want to go, generally speaking, with children's
services in this province. I would like to assure
the member that we're taking a very serious
look at this issue in your region.
