Achi news desk-
Ontario is boosting its funding for autism services by $60 million over last year, and while advocates say new money in the recent provincial budget is welcome, thousands of children will still be unable to access therapy .
The budget announced $120 million for the autism program, but the government later clarified that this included a “one-time” addition of $60 million to the program’s funding last year. It brings the total for the Ontario Autism Program to $720 million, a significant amount of money even within the province’s $214-billion budget, but it won’t come close to meeting demand.
The Progressive Conservative government has tried several times to either modify or completely overhaul the program—as did the previous Liberal government—but in the time it has taken to implement the latest iteration, the demand for services has caused the waiting list to end. balloon.
Alina Cameron, president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said the new money is a big step forward, but the autism community still has many questions.
“There are over 60,000 children waiting at the moment and this programme, as it is, will not help the majority of children,” he said. “So while it is welcome progress, how much do we celebrate when so many children are still waiting?”
That number is the total number of children and young people registered in the programme, and many have received some form of support, although most have been through a one-time piece of funding or a school access program . What many families seek are core clinical services, such as applied behavior analysis.
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NDP critic Monique Taylor said the $120 million is not enough.
“We know it’s a troubled plan,” he said. “They need to go back to the table and make sure the children get the services they need, when they need them.”
When Children, Community and Social Services Minister Michael Parsa took over the file last year, ministry officials told him in his transition binder that the program’s $667 million budget would only serve about 20,000 children in core clinical therapies.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom of information request show that at the end of 2023, about 17,000 children were enrolled in core services, although fewer than 14,000 of them actually received funding to purchase those services.
Tuesday’s provincial budget says the $120 million will “support the government’s commitment to enroll 20,000 children and youth in core clinical services.”
That language is somewhat problematic, said Cameron, of the Ontario Autism Coalition.
“We were under the impression that the size of the budget from last year, according to Minister Parsa’s transition binder, was enough to get 20,000 children through the door for core services,” he said.
Does the new budget mean that more than 20,000 children will now have access to core services, or does it mean that the $667 million budget, in the end, was not enough to help 20,000 children, he wondered Cameron.
Parsa did not elaborate on those details in an interview, but said the new investment shows the government is committed to supporting those families.
“Our commitment remains the same in making sure that every child, every youth, every family receives the support and services they need,” he said.
The government is still working on adding more capacity within the treatment system, so that there are enough service providers to help families when they get funding.
“We will do everything we can to make sure the help is available,” said Parsa.
The Progressive Conservative government’s relationship with the autism community has been rocky, particularly under its prime minister Lisa MacLeod.
Families say the changes she made gutted the program.
The coalition then complained that there was almost no communication under the previous minister, Merrilee Fullerton, and that she was “hoping for them”.
But that relationship could be turning a corner, Cameron said. She has been happy to see that Parsa and his team have been reaching out to community members, looking for input.
“None of our questions have really been answered, but we hope that we will get more clarity and transparency in the coming weeks, months,” he said.
“We are hopeful that the office doors are opening and we are welcome to chat. So that’s a good thing.”
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
