Financial Support & Community Programs
MAY 05, 2021
This video will help parents and caregivers learn about community supports and services. Topics will include funding options, parent resources, respite and recreation ideas.
Tips and Information
Section 1: Funding
- Special Services at Home (SSAH): Helps families who are caring for a child with a developmental and/or physical disability.
- Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities (ACSD): Helps families to cover the cost of extraordinary expenses that are related to a child with a disability.
- Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP): Helps parents and others save for the long term financial security of a person who has a disability and enhances the financial security of people living with disabilities.
- Jennifer Ashleigh Children’s Charity (JACC): A charitable organization that assists children and youth who have a severe illness or a permanent disability, are 18 years of age or under, and are permanent residents of Ontario.
- Ontario Autism Program (OAP): For children and youth who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by a qualified professional.
- Incontinence Supplies Grant Program: An annual grant provided to families to help cover some of the costs for diapers and certain supplies for incontinence care (catheters, drainage bags).
- Access 2 Care Program: For people of all ages and types of permanent disabilities who require the assistance of a support person to participate in entertainment, cultural and recreational venues across Canada.
- Disability Travel Card Program: For people of all ages and types of permanent disabilities who require the assistance of a support person when travelling with VIA Rail Canada, Greyhound Canada and Coach Canada.
- TTC Support Person Card: Allows a support person to travel on the TTC for free with a person with a disability.
Section 2: Parent Resources
- Parent Outreach Program (P.O.P): Provides in-home support for parents of children with developmental delays aged 2.5 to 21 years of age.
- Extend-A-Family: Works in the community to support individuals who have developmental disabilities.
- EarlyON Child and Family Centres: Offers free programs to family and caregivers and their children from birth to six years of age.
- Toronto Public Health – Healthy Babies, Healthy Children: a free home-visiting service for families in the prenatal period or with children (0-3).
- Toronto Public Health – Nobody’s Perfect: A free parenting program for families with children aged 0-5 years.
- Childcare: Provides opportunities for your child to learn how to behave around and socialize with other children
- City of Toronto Childcare Subsidy: Helps families with the cost of licensed childcare.
- TTC Wheel-Trans: A service to assist those with a disability if they are unable to use conventional TTC for all or part of their trip.
Section 3: Respite
- Respiteservices.com: A service that connects families to respite programs, the CHAP Program and Ministry funding (Special Services at Home (SSAH) and Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities (ACSD).
- CHAP (Community Helpers for Active Participation): Connects families to Independent Respite Providers using a database of screened, experienced providers to provide 1:1 support.
- Family Directed Respite (FDR): Funding for families looking for respite/camp options that are currently not accessing other government funded respite options.
- Relax Recharge Review: designed by Tourism Toronto to give the parents of children and adults with special needs a break in the Toronto region.
- Community Living Toronto Respite Program: offers respite programs.
- Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation: The City of Toronto offers a variety of recreational programs and camps in community centres across the city.
- Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation – Adapted and Inclusive Services: offered for individuals with disabilities who want to participate in recreation activities with others who have similar abilities and needs.
- Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation – Welcome Policy: provides a fee subsidy to help individuals and families with low income who live in Toronto access city-operated recreation programs.
- Camps: provides opportunities for your child to learn new skills.
- Autism Ontario Reimbursement Fund: available to Ontario families of children or youth with ASD who retain the services of a one-to-one support worker to attend a March break camp and/or community summer camp.
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