Sometimes it's not possible for children and youth with special needs to live at home.
Residential settings include group homes, foster homes, provincially operated facilities and youth justice open and secure custody/detention facilities.
Children and youth may be placed in residential settings by parents, children's aid societies, community access mechanisms or in the case of youth justice, ordered through the courts.
The children and youth come from a variety of backgrounds and may have a multitude of needs. Residential settings provide a range of services from basic accommodation, care and supervision in a family home setting to specialized programs in treatment settings for children and youth with complex special needs or who are medically fragile.
Here are some examples of the types of services provided in some residential settings:
- counselling
- behavioural intervention
- crisis support
- family support and training
- medical, psychiatric and psychological consultation and treatment
- access to treatment classrooms
- life skills, and
- prosocial skills.
Residential services are provided by a number of service providers who are licensed and/or funded by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and the Ministry of Community and Social Services. Service providers must meet the requirements and regulations of the Child and Family Services Act.
