Apr. 1 Update: Day 1 of the new Ontario Autism Program, that we know little about.

Today is both April Fools’ Day and the very first day of the Ontario Autism Program.

Late last week, the government quietly updated the Ontario Autism Program website. Let’s review the page, to see how little Ontarians know about this new program, keeping in mind that this program is currently active:

How will it address the individual needs of kids?

We don’t know. Furthermore, we don’t know when we’ll know:

Over the coming months, the government is exploring how best to provide additional supports to families based on the diagnosed needs of their child. We will take input from parents and stakeholders for the next several months to assess how we better support those with more complex needs and provide additional sources of support to them.

When will kids currently on the waitlist receive their Childhood Benefit?

Sometime in the next 18 months. There’s an algorithm based on age and time on the existing waiting to determine the order in which kids will receive support, but we only have broad details on how it will work:

The government is working to move all 23,000 children off the waitlist over the next 18 months so they have timely access to support. Children will be brought off the waitlist based on a combination of the time they have been waiting for service, and with a continued focus on early intervention. Considerations will also be made for children five years of age and youth 17 years of age to help maximize funding for them.

What services will families have access to?

We will find out later this month. (Have I mentioned this program is currently active?):

Through Childhood Budgets, families will have access to a broader range of eligible services, such as speech language pathology, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Full details on eligible services will be available in April 2019.

Will kids currently receiving therapy immediately receive their Childhood Benefit when their therapy expires? Will their existing therapy count against their Childhood Budget?

We don’t know. We do know that kids currently receiving treatment had their treatment extended:

All children who currently have an Ontario Autism Program Behaviour Plan will continue to receive the services outlined in that plan until its end date. Families will be able to access an additional six-month plan at up to the current level of intensity.

How much of their Childhood Budgets can families spend in a year?

The funding of the Childhood Budget has been greatly simplified:

Children under the age of six will receive $20,000 annually in direct funding, while those six and over will receive $5,000 annually.

On the previous OAP website, there was a provision that gave parents options on how much money they could spend:

Families will have options in how they receive their budgets. This includes being able to access 20 percent of their remaining childhood budget each year.

These provisions have disappeared on the new version of the page. We don’t know if this was an oversight, or if the government has eliminated this option.

Furthermore, we don’t know if families can roll over any unused spending.

Can we even call this a Childhood Budget any more? Unless I’m missing something, it looks more like a yearly funding allowance, not something that lasts until the age of 18.

How does the OAP count partial years?

What happens if a child enters the program when they’re 3 years, 8 months old? How does the funding work for that year? We don’t know.

How do families register for the OAP?

Through an intake agency which… doesn’t currently exist. (Have I mentioned this is an active program?)

Over the next year, the ministry will establish a new independent intake agency which will assist families in registering for the program, provide them with their Childhood Budgets and offer support to help them choose which services to purchase. While the independent intake agency is being established, the ministry will play a key role in supporting families to access their OAP Childhood Budgets.

Later on in the website, the government suggests contacting the “Single Point of Access”, though that would seem to be for the pre-April 1 program:

Contact your local Single Point of Access to register. Once your registration is complete your child will be added to the waitlist.

Not sure if this still applies now we’re in April.

Where can families access services with their OAP funding?

Hard to know until we get a complete list of services. The government will be compiling a list of qualified service providers, but this will not be completed until 2021 at the earliest:

This includes introducing a deadline of April 1, 2021 for clinical supervisors to meet the program’s qualification requirements, conducting regular financial audits of Childhood Budgets, and implementing an online list of verified qualified service providers to help families access qualified clinical supervisors of behavioural services.

What services will be available in rural, remote and Northern areas? What services will be available to Franco-Ontarians? What will the government do to ensure these citizens have access to services?

No idea.

How will any kids be able to access therapy, given pretty much every service provider has announced layoffs, because they can’t operate programs under such heavy levels of regulatory uncertainty?

I’m an economist, not a fortune teller.

Given the program starts today and there’s so little information about it, how did our provincial Minister spend her day yesterday?

Protesting federal carbon pricing and going to a federal Conservative rally.

Is there a worse possible use of time, given an impending deadline?

Probably not, though continuing this series of questions would have to be up there.

The end.

Ontario Government Resources

• Program details from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
• Transcripts from Question Period.
• Feb. 6 Press Release: Helping Families by Improving Access to Autism Services.
• Feb. 6 Press Release: Ontario Takes Decisive Action to Help More Families with Autism.
• Feb. 6 Press Release: Electronic Press Kit Now Available: Ontario Takes Decisive Action to Help More Families with Autism.
• Feb. 7 Press Release: New Ontario Autism Program Draws Support From Across the Province.
• Mar. 11 Press Release: Ontario Continues to Support Students with Autism.
• Mar. 22 Press Release: Ontario Enhancing Support for Children with Autism.