2025–2026 Services delivered: CARES Caregiver Support Program
Component: Autism
Services Delivered: CARES Caregiver Support Program
Legislation: Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA)
Service description:
The Caregiver Support Program (CARES) provides a comprehensive model of support for caregivers by providing them with evidence-based care that improves their mental health and overall wellbeing, while also providing them with concrete skills and knowledge to better support their loved ones living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
People served:
CARES is available to parents and caregivers of children and youth with ASD.
Service features:
CARES helps parents gain the skills and knowledge to address their own care and in turn, to better care for their loved ones. The program situates parents in a safe space to share their experiences as caregivers of children with ASD and learn about taking care of their own mental health.
The program utilizes trained volunteers to provide standardized, evidence-based coaching to caregivers. Volunteer coaches lead group sessions that touch on various topics such as self-care, coping strategies, mindfulness, and stress management techniques. The service provider coordinates with external organizations to deliver knowledge-based seminars, as outlined below.
Specific service provided:
CARES is an 8-week program, and includes two components:
- 8-week caregiver coaching: An interactive, semi structured program where parents learn about topics such as stress management, relaxation techniques, the cognitive-behavioural model and cognitive restructuring, self-compassion, problem solving, and assertive communication skills.
- Structured respite: To allow families the opportunity to participate in consistent programming, structured childcare is provided to families. Children are supervised by two Early Childhood Educators for the duration of the 8-week program.
Service goals:
The objectives of CARES include:
- Helping prevent and/or reduce mental health issues for caregivers
- Helping to develop strong support networks among caregivers, and
- Increasing caregiver capacity to engage confidently with the challenges of being a caregiver to an individual with ASD
Ministry expectations:
Services will be:
- Reflective and responsive to individual, family and community strengths and needs,
- Accountable to the individual, family, and community,
- Sensitive to the social, linguistic, geographic, and cultural diversity of families and Indigenous communities,
- Staffed by individuals with a suitable range of skills and abilities necessary to respond effectively to the needs of children/ youth and their families.
- Based on the individual’s assessed needs, preferences, and availability of individual, agency, community, and contracted ministry resources.
The CARES program must be:
- Caregiver-mediated,
- Individualized and responsive,
- Effective (i.e., program must have demonstrated effectiveness for families/caregivers of children/youth with autism spectrum disorder and have demonstrated ability to show measurable change in outcomes, over a specific period),
- Evidence-informed (i.e., program has a strong research base demonstrating positive outcomes and has not demonstrated any evidence of harm),
- Delivered for up to 8 weeks,
- Delivered with fidelity, with target outcomes measured, and outcome data is evaluated to monitor program effectiveness.
The Service Provider will develop an evaluation plan that will assess the impact of the program through four measures:
- A decrease in parental stress: as measured using the Brief Family Distress Scale.
- A decrease in depressive symptoms: as measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales.
- An increase in quality of life: as measured using the Quality-of-Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire.
- An improvement in positive parenting practices and family relationships: as measured using the Parenting and Family Adjustment Scales (PAFAS).
Reporting requirements
Service data will be reported on at an Interim and Final stage. Please refer to your final agreement for report back due dates and targets.
| Services data name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ministry-funded expenditures: CARES | Total ministry-funded expenses for the Transfer Payment Recipient to administer and/or deliver this service in the Funding Year (cumulative). |
| # of Individuals Served (Total): CARES | The unique number of individuals that participated in caregiver coaching in the funding year. An individual is counted only once per funding year. |
| # of Individuals Waiting for Service : CARES | The total number of individuals waiting for caregiver coaching at the end of the reporting period. The purpose of this data element is to understand demand for the program. |
| # of Individuals Reporting Positive Outcomes: CARES | The total number of individuals that have ended service in the Caregiver Support Program and who report positive outcomes being achieved at the end of the service. Positive outcome is subjective and based on participant’s perception of the following:
|