TORONTO — The number of children with autism receiving publicly funded, needs-based core therapy in Ontario appears to have only now returned to the level it was at five years ago, before changes by the Progressive Conservative government upended the system, new figures suggest.
That number then declined, as children aged out of the program and others were not being added in the same way when the government switched to a new funding model. Instead of providing children with core therapy based on their individual needs, the new program would see families get up to $20,000 or $5,000 a year for therapy, MacLeod announced, in order to "clear" the waitlist for services — then at about 23,000. Intensive therapy for children with high needs can cost upwards of $90,000 a year, families and advocates say.
By the time new enrolments in core services began last summer, about 3,600 children were receiving publicly funded needs-based therapy, having been grandfathered in from the previous Liberal government program. The amount of funding committed for core therapy has also been rising along with the number of children receiving services, to $387.4 million as of July 12. That is nearly 60 per cent of the annual overall program budget. Other services in the program include workshops for parents and an entry-to-school program.
"Families can access a range of other OAP services, but most children and youth will not receive core clinical services funding in the short to medium term," that document said.
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