Minister of Children and Youth Services Mary Anne Chambers announces the new site of One Kids Place at Highway 17 and McKeown Avenue.
Nipissing MPP Monique Smith News Release
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NORTH BAY– More children and youth with special needs in Nipissing, Parry Sound and Muskoka will get the services and supports they need closer to home, Minister of Children and Youth Services Mary Anne Chambers and Monique Smith, MPP for Nipissing announced today.
By January 2009, One Kids Place will move from its temporary location on Stockdale Road in North Bay to a new, expanded, state-of-the-art facility at Highway 17 and McKeown Avenue in North Bay. The government is donating the land, worth $1.5 million for the new facility and providing more than $7.3 million in funding towards its construction. The new facility will also house the North Bay Paediatric Group, the Nipissing Association for Disabled Youth. and will be an identified Hub for special needs services through the Best Start initiative. Key partnerships with the Near North District School Board and other community agencies will ensure focussed attention on early learning programming and preparing children for school.
“This is great news for our community,” Smith said. “Children’s treatment centres like One Kids Place provide important supports for children and youth so that they can look to the future with a real sense of optimism. This investment will make services more accessible and more responsive to the needs of children, youth and their families in this area.”
“Children’s treatment centres are an important part of the continuum of services that provide young people with disabilities the best opportunities to succeed,” said Chambers. “Our government is committed to providing children and youth, with a range of complex special needs, with the support they need to help them reach their potential and realize their dreams just like other children and youth.”
The Minister also announced today that One Kids Place, which provides a full range of services to in excess of 1,500 children, youth and their families, will receive an additional $343,400 in base funding in 2007-08, a 17 per cent increase over last year. The funding will be used to provide services to 152 children and youth with special needs, including 92 currently on a waiting list. The centre also received $14,000 as part of government investments last fall to better serve children, youth and families. “We are delighted with today's announcement by Minister Chambers and our MPP Monique Smith,” said Margaret Hughes, Chair of One Kids Place. “The additional funding from the government coupled with our new multi-service facility will enable us to provide a range of high-quality, specialized services and supports for children and youth with special needs living in the Districts of Nipissing, Muskoka and Parry Sound.”
The government is also providing more than $589,000 in new funding to 13 Nipissing and Parry Sound-Muskoka agencies to enhance services to children and youth with mental health and behavioural challenges. The funding is part of an additional $24.5 million annual investment in child and youth mental health across the province and builds on previous investments in more than 260 child and youth mental health agencies and 17 hospital-based outpatient programs. Nine of these agencies also received a total of more than $3.3 million as part of government investments last fall to better serve children, youth and families while strengthening local economies.
This is the second increase in base annual funding to the child and youth mental health sector by the McGuinty government since 2004. Prior to the 2004 budget, the sector had not received a base increase for 12 consecutive years.
“We owe it to our province’s most vulnerable citizens to do all we can to help them,” said Chambers. “Our government’s investments will help more children and youth succeed in school, at home and in the community and become productive adults.”
