The Children's Treatment Centre in Chatham-Kent has received a provincial funding boost as the province reaffirmed its commitment to the new state-of-the-art centre in Chatham.
The centre will receive $842,525 this year to help meet the growing demand for early intervention and rehabilitation services for children and youth with special needs. The money is part of the government’s recent announcement of an extra $240 million over four years to reduce wait lists and build additional service capacity for early intervention and rehabilitation services for children and youth with special needs across Ontario.
On Thursday afternoon, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Dr. Merrilee Fullerton also reaffirmed the province's commitment for the new $28.5 million, 55,000 square foot modern building on McNaughton Avenue West across from the St. Clair College Thames Campus. However, a date for the start of construction has yet to be decided.
“Our government is delivering on our commitment to build important infrastructure projects that support modern, accessible, and centralized services for children with special needs,” said Fullerton. “The Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent will be a state-of-the-art facility that supports families and children through an integrated model of centralized services.”
The new centre will help meet increasing demand for special needs services in the area with additional space needed to reduce wait times for rehabilitation services such as speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and autism services.
"Families express that they do not know where they would be without the Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent (CTC-CK) because it has had such a huge, positive impact on their child’s function and development," said CTC-CK Executive Director Donna Litwin-Mackey. "A modernized and expanded Children’s Treatment Centre will reduce our waiting lists and provide the right space to fully develop the skills and abilities of children with developmental, communication and physical needs, so they can successfully participate in the community. We are thrilled and very appreciative of the commitment announced by the ministry today in supporting our goal of Celebrating Abilities and Developing Potential."
The specialized services and supports, include occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech-language pathology, autism services, audiology, respite services, services for children and youth with multiple and/or complex special needs, and services for children and youth impacted by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
The Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent was founded 74 years ago and currently provides services to approximately 5,000 children and youth with special needs in the area.
