The Ontario government announced today they are investing $240 million over 4 years to increase access to critical rehab services for children and youth with special needs and help them live happier and healthier lives.
As part of this investment, $60 million in new funding will be provided to Children’s Treatment Centres and Preschool Speech and Language programs annually starting this year.
This is hoped to enable more children to have access to services when they need them and improve access to critical services such as early intervention.
The funding will build additional service capacity and reduce wait times in the children’s services sector, enabling up to 10,000 more pre-school aged children with speech and language needs and up to 47,000 more with rehabilitation needs annually.
Local challenges such as recruitment and retention of clinic staff in norther, remote and/or rural communities will also be addressed.
