Core Clinical Services
In the needs-based Ontario Autism Program, eligible children and youth can access other OAP services at no cost, including:
- foundational family services,
- caregiver-mediated early years programs,
- urgent response service, and
- entry to school program.
Care coordinators are also available to help orient your family to the program, discuss the services and support available to you within and outside of the Ontario Autism Program, and answer questions related to your service option.
Following the completion of the determination of needs process, your family will receive an OAP funding allocation to purchase eligible core clinical services and supports. You will work directly with a professional of your choice, who meets the OAP qualification requirements, to conduct a clinical assessment and develop a treatment plan based on your child and family’s strengths, support needs and goals.
The determination of needs process will help determine a child or youth’s level of support needs and associated funding for core clinical services and supports.
Care coordinators will meet with families to discuss their child’s strengths, support needs and priority goals across ten key domains: communication, social interaction, play and leisure, activities of daily living, motor skills, cognitive skills, sensory system, interfering behaviours, mental health and adaptability and resilience.
In addition to the ten domains, care coordinators consider factors such as developmental and life stages, as well as co-existing health and environmental factors.
This process is separate and distinct from the clinical assessment that would be completed by a clinician as the first step of treatment planning and the delivery of core clinical services. Families will work directly with their chosen clinician to develop treatment options and plans for their child.
Your family should have received a letter from the Government of Ontario that will require your action. It will include instructions on how to:
- create an account with AccessOAP
- Give consent for the Government to transfer your child’s OAP record to AccessOAP
AccessOAP will invite families to enter core clinical services in the order that they registered for the OAP. Your family will be invited based on the date your child was registered in the OAP.
When your family is invited to enter core clinical services, you will be asked to meet with a care coordinator. Care coordinators will be responsible for guiding your family through the determination of needs process to determine your child’s support needs and associated funding for core clinical services and supports. Care coordinators will complete the determination of needs process with your family at least once annually to reflect your child’s changing support needs.
The Government of Ontario sets the policies and parameters for eligible core clinical services and supports available through the Ontario Autism Program.
Families can use their OAP funding allocation to purchase eligible services and supports as outlined in OAP Core Clinical Services and Supports Guidelines.
Needs-based services are already available to all families through the Ontario Autism Program. The needs-based OAP includes a range of services and supports, including foundational family services, caregiver-mediated early years programs, entry to school programs, urgent response services, and core clinical services. For more information on services available through the OAP please visit www.ontario.ca/autism
