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Successfully Building a High-Performance Organization

Diversified Funding

At Surrey Place, we understand the importance of creating an agile and nimble organization by diversifying our revenue base to meet the changing needs of our clients, their families, and our community. This fiscal year we increased the number of our grant and proposal applications by 17%. As a result of these efforts, we achieved a 60% increase in awarded grant funds.

Number of ApplicationsNumber of SuccessesPending ApplicationsTotal Awarded Funds
($)
41818$1,479,690

Grant Highlights

Enabling Accessibility Fund

Surrey Place was awarded over $80,000 to enhance accessibility at our west location. The funding will be utilized to install automatic door openers, improving access for both staff and clients that use the space and creating an inclusive environment that accommodates the needs of everyone.

Ontario Autism Program – Workforce Capacity Fund

Surrey Place was awarded additional funding from the Ontario Autism Program’s Workforce Capacity Fund to continue developing our Customer Relations Management (CRM) system. CRM projects have been a key undertaking for our Project Management Office and Autism Services teams as our organization modernizes and improves how our clients and families connect with our staff.

Children’s Aid Foundation – Teddy Bear Grant

In partnership with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, Surrey Place was awarded a second year of funding for a full-time Service Coordinator. The Service Coordinator role provides consultative service to Community Assessment and Support Team staff and families, which aims to improve the service experiences and outcomes for children and youth with multiple or complex special needs and their families.

Partnerships & Integrations

Urgent Response Services

In April 2022, the Ontario Autism Program launched the Urgent Response Services across Ontario, with Surrey Place serving as the lead agency for the Toronto region. With our partners across Toronto, families can now access a range of services right in their home, including service coordination, behaviour intervention, respite care, social work and occupational therapy. The urgent response team works closely with family members, using a mediator model to teach the skills to manage the behaviours effectively and reduce the risk of harm to others. As the service moves into its second year, the number of clients and supports provided is growing at an exciting and accelerated rate. We continue to collaborate with our partners to ensure that Urgent Response Services supports families from diverse cultures and backgrounds, while prioritizing the safety and well-being of clients and their families.

Seeing is Belonging: Vision Clinic

Through our commitment to providing comprehensive care for our clients, this fiscal year we established a partnership with the School of Optometry, Vision Science and the University of Waterloo. Together, with the support from the Azrieli Foundation, we are launching a three-year pilot program to run a dedicated vision clinic at Surrey Place. This much-needed clinic will provide vision care for our clients and is expected to launch by January 2024.

Medical Services

At Surrey Place, we are committed to providing medical support to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and advocating for the care that they deserve. This fiscal year, the Surrey Place Medical Services team led impactful initiatives to better serve our community.

Through The Ministry of Health’s Alternate Payment Plan, Surrey Place was able to fund physicians to provide consultation services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and collaborate with Surrey Place staff supporting clients with complex needs. This medical consultation model is like no other service in Ontario. These physicians are incredibly passionate about caring for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and are building capacity for current and future healthcare providers through their clinical expertise, education and support.

To help reduce the barriers that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities face accessing services, the Medical Services team launched a pilot program for primary care providers to easily refer clients to our team of physicians using the Strata Pathways portal. This new electronic referral portal is accessible to any primary care provider who uses the Ocean platform.

With 60 years of experience, Surrey Place is investing in the future of medical support through a cohort of physicians with specialized knowledge of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This year, Surrey Place trained its first third-year Family Medicine Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities resident in the University of Toronto’s Surrey Place-led Enhanced Skills program. Within the following year, two additional residents will also begin the program. Through this specialty program, Surrey Place will increase the number of medical experts for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and build capacity through the mentorship of family doctors and future physicians.

By 2 months

Has your baby had their hearing screened? YES NO

By 6 months

Does the child?

Startle in response to loud noises? YES NO
Turn to where a sound is coming from? YES NO
Make different cries for different needs (hungry, tired)? YES NO
Watch your face as you talk? YES NO
Smile/laugh in response to your smiles and laughs? YES NO
Imitate coughs or other sounds such as ah, eh, buh YES NO

By 9 months

Does the child?

Respond to their name? YES NO
Respond to the telephone ringing or a knock at the door? YES NO
Understand being told no? YES NO
Get what they want through using gestures (reaching to be picked up)? YES NO
Play social games with you (Peek-a-Boo)? YES NO
Enjoy being around people? YES NO
Babble and repeat sounds such as babababa or duhduhduh? YES NO

By 12 months

Does the child?

Follow simple one-step directions (sit down)? YES NO
Look across the room to a toy when adult points at it? YES NO
Consistently use three to five words? YES NO
Use gestures to communicate (waves hi/bye, shakes head for no)? YES NO
Get your attention using sounds, gestures and pointing while looking at your eyes? YES NO
Bring you toys to show you? YES NO
Perform for social attention and praise? YES NO
Combine lots of sounds together as though talking (abada baduh abee)? YES NO
Show an interest in simple picture books? YES NO

By 18 months

Does the child?

Understand the meaning of in and out, off and on? YES NO
Point to more than 2 body parts when asked? YES NO
Use at least 20 words consistently? YES NO
Respond with words or gestures to simple questions (Where's teddy? What's that?)? YES NO
Demonstrate some pretend play with toys (gives teddy bear a drink, pretends a bowl is a hat)? YES NO
Make at least four different consonant sounds (p ,b, m, n, d, g, w, h)? YES NO
Enjoy being read to and sharing simple books with you? YES NO
Point to pictures using one finger? YES NO

By 2 years

Does the child?

Follow two-step directions (Go find your teddy bear and show it to Grandma.)? YES NO
Use 100 to 150 words? YES NO
Use at least two pronouns (you, me, mine)? YES NO
Consistently combine two to four words in short phrases (Daddy hat. Truck go down.)? YES NO
Enjoy being around other children? YES NO
Begin to offer toys to other children and imitate other children's actions and words? YES NO
Use words that are understood by others 50 to 60 per cent of the time? YES NO
Form words or sounds easily and without effort? YES NO
Hold books the right way up and turn the pages? YES NO
Read to stuffed animals or toys? YES NO
Scribble with crayons? YES NO

By 30 months

Does the child?

Understand the concepts of size (big/little) and quantity (a little/a lot, more)? YES NO
Use some adult grammar (two cookies, bird flying, I jumped)? YES NO
Use over 350 words? YES NO
Use action words such as run, spill, fall? YES NO
Participate in some turn-taking activities with peers, using both words and toys? YES NO
Demonstrate concern when another child is hurt or sad? YES NO
Combine several actions in play (puts blocks in the train and drives the train, drops the blocks off.)? YES NO
Put sounds at the beginning of most words? YES NO
Use words with two or more syllables or beats (ba-na-na, com-pu-ter, a-pple)? YES NO
Recognize familiar logos and signs involving print (Stop sign)? YES NO
Remember and understand familiar stories? YES NO

By 3 years

Does the child?

Understand who, what, where and why questions? YES NO
Create long sentences using five to eight words? YES NO
Talk about past events (trip to grandparents house, day at child care)? YES NO
Tell simple stories? YES NO
Show affection for favourite playmates? YES NO
Engage in multi-step pretend play (pretending to cook a meal, repair a car)? YES NO
Talk in a way that most people outside of the family understand what she/he is saying most of the time? YES NO
Have an understanding of the function of print (menus, lists, signs)? YES NO
Show interest in, and awareness of, rhyming words? YES NO
Read to stuffed animals or toys? YES NO
Scribble with crayons? YES NO

By 4 years

Does the child?

Follow directions involving three or more steps (First get some paper, then draw a picture and give it to Mommy)? YES NO
Use adult type grammar? YES NO
Tell stories with a beginning, middle and end? YES NO
Talk to try and solve problems with adults and with other children? YES NO
Show increasingly complex imaginary play? YES NO
Talk in a way that is understood by strangers almost all the time? YES NO
Generate simple rhymes (cat-bat)? YES NO
Match some letters with their sounds (letter b says buh, letter t says tuh)? YES NO