Waterloo Children & Youth Services Planning ... - Social Services

June 2012
6.6 Ensure Accurate and Up To Date Information
According to the data collected for this project it was not uncommon for parents to start
their search for services with a friend or another service provider, but they also sought
information from their family doctors, and/or their child’s teacher. In a document
published by the Provincial Centre for Excellence for Children’s Mental Health at CHEO
entitled, Access & Wait times in Child and Youth Mental Health: A Background Paper
(2010), it is reported that many young Canadians turn to their family doctors and then to
their schools for information on mental health. The report also noted that a considerable
amount of evidence suggests that many children and youth go to hospital emergency
departments as the chosen access point for mental health services (Davison et. al., 2010).
Although the report is focused on mental health, it is argued that its findings serve to
further inform this project on access to services for all “vulnerable” children across
sectors.
In relation to the above, during this review it became apparent that despite the efforts of
service providers (intake staff) to maintain accurate information, it was common for
parents to report that they often got inaccurate and out of date information about
services. The same feedback was given for family doctors and schools. However, intake
worker’s reported to be spending a great deal of effort (and resources) on attempting to
keep up to date on available community services and eligibility criteria. But they also
described the difficulties associated with this task. In addition, intake workers discussed
concerns that the considerable number of existing published parent/service resource
guides were not being used or insufficient for parent’s use. As a result, it could be argued
that a there is a tremendous amount of rework being done by service providers to stay up
to date and current but that few of them have a “formal” well-resourced system for doing
so.
Recommendation # 6
Establish and maintain high priority responsibility for accurate and up-to-date
information on all aspects of available services for vulnerable children.
6.7 Direct Connection to Schools (Teachers)
As noted, on several occasions parents voiced frustration over the lack of information
they got from their child’s school about seeking help for a variety of issues for their
vulnerable child. At the same time, however, some did express their understanding and
concern that the school system, especially teachers, were not equipped to provide what
was needed. Despite this understanding, both parents and educators agreed that there is
an important role for schools in supporting families to access services. In many instances,
teachers are in a position where their observations of children can lead to early
intervention and even prevention of issues escalating. It is not difficult to imagine that as
a parent, one would expect that if a teacher had a concern about one’s child that they
would also offer some guidance as to where to go for help. However, it could be argued
that it would be unreasonable for anyone to expect that School Boards, Principals or
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