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5 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,A ugust 8,2019 insidehalton.com Join Us! TEPPANYAKI GRILL - SUSHI - SASHIMI - DIM SUM www.august8.ca 280 North Service Road W.@ Dorval Oakville 905-338-6228 Call us for reservations 7 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU. New! Chinatown Location Now Open $2.00 OFF LUNCH ONLY Dine-in,cash only & with this voucher.Offer valid at Oakville Location only. Limit 1 voucher per table. not valid on weekends and holidays $5.00 OFF DINNER ONLY Dine-in,cash only & with this voucher.Offer valid at Oakville Location only. Limit 1 voucher per table. not valid on weekends and holidays A FEAST FOR YOUR SENSES. ALLYOU CAN EAT LUNCH OR DINNER 2018 Multi-Award Winner! The Ford government's decision to back away from changes proposed for au- tism funding will not pre- vent layoffs at the Erinoak- Kids Centre for Treatment and Development in Oak- ville. The autism service pro- vider - which has facilities in Oakville, Brampton and Mississauga - announced to staff on June 17 that it had been significantly im- pacted by recent changes to the way the Ontario gov- ernment funds autism ser- vices, and as a result would be forced to lay off nearly 300 staff. That announcement fol- lowed the province's Onta- rio Autism Program over- haul. Under that plan, pro- gram agencies such as Er- inoakKids are no longer funded through the public sector and families of chil- dren with autism are in- stead provided a childhood budget, which they can spend with any provider of their choice. While the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services announced Monday, July 29 that the province is expanding the scope of the autism expert panel to provide advice on what a new needs-based and sustainable autism program would look like, the president and CEO of ErinoakKids, Bridget Few- trell, said this does nothing to alter the need for staff- ing reductions. "The reductions were made as a direct result of the imminent defunding of all public agencies in Onta- rio for the provision of au- tism services, which we un- derstand is still to be the plan," said Fewtrell. She said she was heart- ened to know that new Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Todd Smith is in- terested in talking to ser- vice providers as well as families as the govern-families as the govern-f ment redesigns the way autism services are pro- vided in Ontario. Fewtrell said her orga- nization fully supports re- turning to a needs-based model - and hopes that in the redesign, the govern- ment will reconsider pro- viding families with the op- tion to receive their servic- es through a funded agency as well as directly, through receipt of a Childhood Bud- get. "This would give fami- lies real choice and allow those who do not have the time or resources to man- age their own child's pro- gram a viable alternative," said Fewtrell. "It is good news that children currently in ser- vice will have their servic- es extended for another six months. We hope the gov- ernment will pay equal at- tention to children on the wait-list, as they have been waiting a very long time for service, and the rate at which the ministry is pro- viding them with Child- hood Budgets so that they can purchase services is very slow." The Ford government's original plan faced a mas- sive public backlash when efforts to spread funding to more families meant that some would receive no- where near the amount they needed. ABOUT-FACE ON AUTISM FUNDING WON'T ALTER LAYOFFS ErinoakKids Centre for Treatment and Development in Oakville. ErinoakKids photo NEWS DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com THE ISSUE: THE FORD GOVERNMENT IS BACK- TRACKING ON ITS PREVIOUS FUNDING PLAN FOR AUTISM FUNDING PLAN AND IS NOW WORKING TOWARDS A NEW ONE. LOCAL IMPACT: THE ERINOAKKIDS CENTRE FOR TREATMENT AND DEVELOPMENT HAS CONFIRMED THIS CHANGE IN DIRECTION IS NOT ENOUGH TO ALTER PLANS BY THE AUTISM SERVICE PROVIDER TO LAY OFF NEARLY 300 STAFF. See - page 6