Young people: Who’s turning a deaf ear?
Infant Hearing Program to identify children who are deaf or hard of hearing
The Infant Hearing Program (IHP) is administered by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. IHP identifies babies born deaf or hard of hearing and provides supports and services needed to develop language and early literacy skills so children can meet their full potential.
It normally takes a number of complaints to detect a systemic problem; the following complaint uncovered a serious fundamental problem.
A complainant was using the services of the Infant Hearing Program for her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter. She was learning to communicate in Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ). As the mother was planning to move from one designated area under the FLSA to another, she made sure that her daughter’s file was properly transferred several months in advance. She insisted on continuing to receive uninterrupted service in French. She was told that she would have to wait, because the agency had to hire someone to deliver LSQ.
Despite her efforts before the move, the mother said she was frustrated at having to wait five months to get the same service her daughter was receiving previously.
[TRANSLATION] “It’s ironic. We moved to get better services for our daughter, but that didn’t happen. I felt distressed about the lack of French-language services. (…) A deaf child has the same needs in every region. That’s what bothers me. The critical years for acquiring language are between birth and the age of 5, and it’s during this time that many children and families are not receiving the services they desperately need.”
A complainant
This program, which is administered by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, is designed to meet the specific needs of children who are deaf and hard of hearing, and their families, as in this case. But history clearly shows that the specific and unique needs of Francophone citizens have not been considered.
The investigation carried out by the Commissioner’s Office quickly revealed that none of the 12 agencies responsible for the program currently has the capacity to provide LSQ. Consequently, it is a problem of widespread absence of services in Ontario.
The Ministry points out that LSQ services are not the same as French-language services, and that the demand for LSQ services is very low. The Commissioner does not agree and notes that he will provide the necessary clarifications in the forthcoming report on the governance of the Centre Jules-Léger. Nevertheless, this issue involves disadvantaged parents who are doing everything they can to build a bridge so that they can communicate in a common language with their vulnerable children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Ministry has made a commitment to help Francophone families waiting for services. The Commissioner’s Office promises to monitor the situation closely.
Restructuring of mental health services for youth
In 2014, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services undertook a province-wide restructuring of community mental health services for children, youths and their families. For the Government, this restructuring is desperatly needed, not just for Francophones, but for all Ontarians. The system is badly fragmented and many families in need do not know where to turn. Therefore, the Ministry plans to identify lead agencies for each of the 33 areas it has designated in Ontario.
Under this model, each lead agency will have to take responsibility for planning and delivery of mental health services for children and youths in its service area, including Francophones. To this end, the lead agencies may themselves provide mental health services to Francophone children and youths, or subcontract the work to other agencies.
For the Ministry, this intersectoral model is designed to strengthen the community system and provide coordinated, high-quality core services. It is intended to ensure that everyone knows what services are available in the community and how to access them.
But the Francophone community is raising legitimate concerns.
These planned changes have resulted in a number of comments, concerns and complaints to the Commissioner’s Office. The concerns have to do with the fact that agencies that are unilingual or, at best, bilingual – in theory only – will be responsible for planning, delivering, or arranging for the delivery of mental health services for young Francophones in their designated regions. The complainants are worried that if that turned out to be the case, the Ministry would not be fulfilling its legal obligations to provide linguistically and culturally appropriate services to its Francophone clients.
The Commissioner’s Office is currently concentrating on disadvantaged populations. And for good reason. Although the framework of this restructuring reflects the requirement to consider the needs of young people from Francophone communities, the concerns are legitimate. This is a case of déjà vu regarding Francophone health.
In 2013 and subsequently, a number of organizations duly warned the Ministry that any change must take the specific needs of Francophones into consideration at various levels (planning and delivery of services). The Commissioner’s Office therefore took the bull by the horns before irrevocable decisions could be made. Many meetings were held, primarily between the Ministry and the Office of Francophone Affairs, but also with other ministries, in order to convince the government of the need to take immediate action.
The Commissioner’s Office has insisted that the Ministry engage actively with the Francophone community and with leaders experienced in addressing the mental health needs of Francophone families. There are some promising early signs that this engagement is happening. For instance, the Ministry has been meeting with the French Language Health Planning Entities. There are still many areas of concern, but discussion is always good.
The Ministry is very aware of the concerns raised by the Francophone community with respect to the Moving on Mental Health transformation plan. The Commissioner sees this as an opportunity for the government to show leadership and will continue to keep a close eye on developments in this matter.