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LETTER: Child and youth counsellor 'deeply concerned' about proposed government changes

'The changes are particularly concerning in how they will affect the availability and quality of services and supports offered to students, potentially increasing inequities among students'
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Guelph/EloraFergusToday received the following Letter to the Editor..... 

Dear Editor:

For 26 years, I have worked as a child and youth counsellor in the Upper Grand District School Board. I am currently the president of the PSSP Union. That group includes, speech language pathologists, communicative disorders assistants, board certified behaviour analysts, child and youth counsellors, psychological associates and social workers.

I am deeply concerned about the government’s proposed changes to the delivery of specialized health and school-based rehabilitation services to students in our schools. The changes are particularly concerning in how they will affect the availability and quality of services and supports offered to students, potentially increasing inequities among students.

Policy Program Memorandum 81 – Provision of health support services in school settings (PPM 81) outlines expectations and responsibilities for services such as speech and language pathology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and applied behavioural analysis. Many students require these supports to meet their individual needs.

So, while the draft revision of PPM 81 articulates the importance of these services for students, it does not fully recognize the essential roles school board personnel currently fill in the delivery of these services.

As a mental health education worker, I strongly believe these types of school-based rehabilitation services for school age children should be provided by school board employed personnel. In many parts of Ontario, especially in rural and remote areas, services like applied behavioural analysis, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech-language pathology are often scarce and unavailable. The government’s proposed changes will increase the barriers to school-based rehabilitation services. This is simply unacceptable.

Schools currently provide these services in our buildings during the school day in consultation with school staff. School based employees understand the flow of a school, are already in schools, have relationships with students, parents and staff. Schools have little to no space to support outside service provision and support waiting lists are sure to grow out of control.

I urge Minister of Education Stephen Lecce and the Ford government to consider the well-being and success of students in their decision-making. The consequences of their proposed changes will be far-reaching and harmful in the extreme. These changes amount to cuts that will cause hardship and shortchange our students, and they will drastically diminish the quality of Ontario’s education system.

Tracey Mackie Vlietstra
PSSP UGDSB D18