Extensive Needs Program

The Extensive Needs Program is simplifying access to the right care for families of children and youth living with multiple medical, social, physical and developmental healthcare needs. We are excited about this opportunity to better serve children and youth and their families.

The program is currently being developed with our care partners and families, and we are working very hard to get it fully up and running. There isn’t another program like it in Canada and we want to get it right. Getting ready for that means:

Learning from institutions in other parts of the world
Building and hiring the CHEO team (see Who is on the team, below) for this innovative service
Upgrading our existing spaces to ensure they are safe for this unique group of children and youth
Working with our partners — McMaster Children’s Hospital and Holland-Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital — to finalize how we identify the children and youth who will be supported by this new service.

What is happening with the program now?

This year, we put together a small Extensive Needs demonstration project. The goal of this work was to illustrate a proof of concept and participants in the demonstration project have primarily been families of patients admitted to CHEO’s inpatient mental health unit. These highly complex patients would be better served in the community but are in the hospital because there is nowhere else to go. During this phase of program development, we have gained valuable insight on how to better support families through the future Extensive Needs program.

For each child or youth, admission into this service will begin with an integrated medical, behavioural and social assessment followed by (as needed):

Medication management (psychopharmacology)
Specialized behaviour services
Mental health assessment and treatment (psychology, psychiatry)
Social supports (e.g. social work, including counselling for parents)
Collaboration with specialized health care clinics
Respite
Coordinated service planning
Transition support (return to school, return to community core services, transition to adult services)

Who will be served?

An assessment will be taken to determine fit for this service. Preliminary entry criteria includes:

A child or youth aged 0 to 18 years
With multiple medical, neurodevelopmental, and mental health needs.
Who has received or is receiving services across multiple sectors but whose needs are still not met.
With challenging or interfering behaviours that impact safety (of self or others) and pose a barrier to participation in school or family life.

Who is on the care team?

One of the unique things about this program is the many disciplines working together to deliver the care needed. The team will include the following roles:

Behaviour Analyst
Child and Youth Counsellor
Dietitian
Family Resource Worker
Family partners
Community partners
Instructor Therapist
Intake Worker
Mental Health and Addictions RN
Nurse Practitioner
Occupational Therapist
Pediatrician
Patient Service Clerk
Psychiatrist
Psychologist
Recreation Therapist
Respite Worker
Service Planning Coordinator
Speech Language Pathologist
Social Worker

If you are interested in learning more about what supports might be available to your child/youth and your family, please book a Supporting Your Journey call with one of our Intake team members.  

If you would like to stay informed about the progress of the development of this service, please subscribe to this page by entering your email in the "Receive Email Updates" field on the bottom left side of this page.

News/Updates:

03/15/2023: The Pathway for Children and Youth with Extensive Needs is building 'hopes and dreams' for children and youth with extensive needs

03/09/2023: Connecting children and youth with specialized care