Component: Services For Children And Youth With Complex Needs

Legislation: Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017

Service description

  • To provide a range of intensive and flexible community-based services and supports for children and youth with mental health needs, and their families; and
  • To strengthen both the capacity of families to support their children and the ability of children and youth to function effectively in their homes and community

People served

Children/youth under 18 years with an identified social, emotional, behavioral, or mental health need.

Program/service features

The program/services contracted by the ministry will reflect the following features

  • a range of community based intensive counseling and supports for children, youth, and their families, who are experiencing social, emotional, or behavioral difficulties at home, in school or in the community
  • delivered primarily in the home, school, and community and available during the day, outside normal business hours and on weekends
  • capable of providing 24-hour crisis response, including access to respite care, for families receiving Intensive Child and Family Services
  • intensive Child and Family Intervention workers may include a mix of appropriately trained and skilled clinicians who will have access to a psychiatrist/psychologist/clinician for consultation
  • capable of providing active and intensive supports by limiting caseload sizes to 4-5 families at a time
  • capable of accessing a pool of flexible funds and community partnerships to respond to concrete needs of children, youth, and families

Individual planning and goal setting

Each child and youth will have a current plan of care that reflects an assessment of his/her needs and preferences. The plan of care will identify the specific services/supports received by the child/youth, the expected outcomes and be based on the principles of person-centered planning, self-determination, and choice.

Specific service provided

This program is delivered in accordance with the descriptions provided here or any subsequent updated versions (or any other supporting policy documents provided by the ministry).

Ministry expectations

Services are child and family-centered and support the diverse needs of families in a way that is culturally safe, promotes equity, anti-racism, and anti-oppression.

Services will be

  • reflective and responsive to child/youth, family and community strengths and needs
  • accountable to the child/youth, family, and community
  • sensitive to the social, linguistic, and cultural diversity of families and Indigenous communities
  • staffed by individuals with the appropriate range of skills and abilities necessary to respond effectively to the needs of children, youth, and families
  • the support is based on the child’s and youth’s assessed needs, preferences and available individual, agency, community, and contracted ministry resources

Reporting requirements

The following service data will be reported at an Interim and Final period. Please refer to your final agreement for report back due dates and targets.

Service data name Definition

CSN: Intensive Child and Family Services: Ministry-funded agency expenditures

Total ministry-funded expenses for the Transfer Payment Recipient to administer and/or deliver this service in the reporting year (cumulative).

# of individuals: Former CYMH Intensive Child and Family Services

Report the unique/unduplicated number of individuals that received services in the reporting year. An individual is counted only once per year for each service delivered where they received service. The same individual may be counted in more than one service delivered if they are receiving services from more than one service delivered.

# of Hours of Direct Service: Former CYMH Intensive Child and Family Services

Number of hours of direct service. The total number of hours of "direct" service provided by staff to individuals during the fiscal year for a service. "Direct" Hours: The hours spent interacting, whether in a group or individually; face to face or on the phone. It does not include work done "on behalf of" clients, such as telephone calls, advocacy, etc. Administrative support to the service is not to be included. For group service, one hour of service equals one hour of service for the entire group. For example: one hour of group service with five participants equals one Hour of Direct Service. (Note: each individual in the group is recorded under "Number of individuals served" where there is a record).