Layoffs at Autism Treatment Centre Leave Families Worried
QUEEN’S PARK, ON — Official Opposition NDP Children and Youth critic Monique Taylor said that hundreds of staff layoffs at ErinoakKids Centre for Treatment and Development are leaving families worried that the services their children need to thrive will not be there for them.
Taylor was joined Wednesday at Queen’s Park by Jonathan Loewen, who has three sons on the autism spectrum — two of whom use the services at ErinoakKids. The pair said it looks like the Ford government is moving forward with its callous cuts.
“Doug Ford claimed that his government had heard the outcry, and was backtracking on their cruel cuts to the services children with autism need, but it looks like they were just making stuff up again,” said Taylor. “There’s still no money flowing to families on the wait list for services. The budget is still flatlined, with the same inadequate amount Kathleen Wynne gave to the Ontario Autism Program. Now, the government is making things so much worse by forcing service providers to layoff staff and reduce the services available to children and families.”
ErinoakKids is eliminating nearly 300 positions over the next several months. Taylor said that Minister MacLeod’s comments that the government anticipates “further staffing changes,” throughout the province only leaves families worried that even more specialized therapists and service providers will be taken away from kids.
“Families shouldn’t be forced to worry about whether or not autism services and service providers will be there for their child,” said Taylor. “New Democrats are calling for autism services that are fully funded, evidence-based and delivered based on need.”
