Clinical & Client Services
It was another year full of opportunities for the clinical service team!
Transform the client and family experience
across all life stages.
Each year we continue to build on the learning and achievements of the previous year to improve the experience for clients and families, and this year was no different.
In preparation for bringing School Based Rehabilitation Services (SBRS) for the Durham school boards “in-house”, Grandview concluded contract oversight with service provider organizations (SPOs) in Durham in December 2019. We continued to partner with two SPOs to support families and educators in Scarborough.
We hosted a job fair that attracted over 200 applicants and completed 96 “bell ringer” interviews which resulted in 35 new hires across several job categories. Our staff learned from and with each other, changing processes as we went along. Grandview staff completed SBRS initial assessments in-centre which facilitated engaging families as part of the team. From January to the first week of March, we completed over 300 initial assessments and had over 2100 children receiving SBR services in Durham. Clinicians developed parent workshops to offer families after SBRS assessments. The workshops were slated to begin in early spring 2020.<
The Ontario Autism Program (OAP) at Grandview, continued to provide behavioural services for clients that had existing behaviour plans. We also hosted town hall meetings and open houses to hear from families what they wanted from Grandview. We used this information in summer 2019 to start creating and offering fee-for-services options for children with a diagnosis of autism.
On 8 October 2019, we opened our new satellite at Msgr. Paul Dwyer Catholic High School in Oshawa, another wonderful community partnership with school boards in Durham Region. Since opening the site we have offered a range of rehabilitation and developmental services, as well as evening groups and workshops.
Championing a connected system
Consulting with Pickering Library with regards to implementing environmental adaptions, programming ideas, and utilizing supporting tools needed to create new and innovative programs that appeal to a broader group of children and adults.
We hosted and facilitated regular meetings with speech-language pathology representatives from school boards in Durham Region.
Building Capacity
As a learning organization committed to improving experiences for clients, families and staff, Grandview continued to mentor students and new staff from the various professions and supported a number of professional development opportunities. Solution Focused Coaching, an approach that focuses on solutions, strengths and the future, is a powerful engagement tool for staff across the organization. To enhance our ability to work with families remotely, Grandview supported further clinical development in the area of telepractice.
With the pandemic and cancellation of some face-to-face activities, our staff continued to be available to families while working from home. This unprecedented time offered an opportunity to reimagine how we continue to provide service to clients and families. Staff stayed connected by enhancing telepractice beyond phone calls and used our website and social media to provide tips and tricks to families. Families expressed gratitude that Grandview was still working to support them during the COVID-19 experience; thankful for the connection, if only by phone.
“It makes me feel like we’re not alone.”
We are truly in this together.
Autism and Fee-For-Service
Change is nothing new to the world of Autism treatment in Ontario. The Ministry continues its work on building a new Needs-based Ontario Autism Program (OAP); in the meantime families receive funding directly in the form of a Childhood Budget (CB) or Interim One-Time Funding (IOTF).
In light of these changes, Grandview has added a new Fee-For-Service offer that will help families to use their Ministry funds (and personal income) to purchase suitable services for their child.
As outlined by the Ministry, eligible services include Behavioural Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, and Therapeutic Recreation.
FOUNDATIONAL FAMILY SERVICES:
Ontario Autism Program’s (OAP) Foundational family services, officially launched on 7 August, play an important part in on-going capacity building supports available to families of children with ASD. No assesment is required for these free services.
Grandview Children’s Centre is one of the providers for this critical service for families registered in the OAP. We facilitated parent/caregiver workshops in the early days of the OAP with tremendous success and continue to hosted a number virtual parent workshops on the Zoom for Health-Care platform. Other types of foundational family services were also provided by our skilled and knowledgeable Service Navigation and Family Engagement teams.
THANK YOU
Sending our thanks to all the caring individuals, businesses and organizations whose contributions changed lives and made so much possible in 2019/2020. You helped Grandview kids move, play, learn, communicate and connect in ways their families never dreamed possible.
