Letter from the CEO and Board Chair
To our Kinark Community,
Each year, our Annual Report offers us the opportunity to do three key things: reflect, celebrate and anticipate.
In 2022-23, Kinark served more than 9,650 children, youth, and families, both in person and virtually. Our continued focus on quality resulted in us receiving an Accreditation Canada Primer Award – recognizing our commitment to continuous improvement in the quality and safety of our services to best support children and youth with complex needs and their families. We are proud that our employees working in our community-based services, at Syl Apps Youth Centre, at our live-in treatment programs, and in our support services teams, continued to provide high quality services, even in this complex, and sometimes very challenging, environment.
We continue to adapt and listen to the community, and enthusiastically take these learnings with us into the future. Looking forward, as a service provider, an employer, and a community partner, we are committed to meeting the needs of the children and families we support through our own learning, new ways of working and a strong and unwavering commitment to supporting children and youth and their families.
Thank you for your support, leadership, and partnership this past year. We truly believe the best is yet to come as we further commit ourselves to creating better outcomes. Together.
Sunil Mistry
Chair, Board of Directors
Cathy Paul
President and Chief Executive Officer
By The Numbers
Who We Are
| Year | Staff | Volunteers |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 706 | 127 |
Who We Serve
| Total Clients Served by Program Area | 2022-23 | 2021-22 |
|---|---|---|
| Autism | 3,117 | 3,008 |
| Child and Youth Mental Health | 2,779 | 2,727 |
| Forensic Mental Health and Youth Justice | 55 | 47 |
| Supervised Access Program | 147 | 217 |
| Kinark Outdoor Centre | 3,571 | 2,665 |
| Total | 9,669 | 8,654 |
CLIENT EXPERIENCE DATA
Kinark surveys clients and caregivers upon discharge from our programs and services.
In our Autism Programs:
of caregivers say that Kinark services are high quality
In our Child and Youth Mental Health Programs:
of caregivers say the services that their child received helped them deal more effectively with the challenges in their life.
In our Forensic Mental Health Programs:
of clients say that the services they received helped them deal more effectively with life’s challenges.
A Year In Review
Exciting growth and development in our autism program!
There has been significant growth in our autism program in the past year, as well as changes to the ways in which our services are delivered. When the Ontario government made changes to how autism services were funded and delivered, in order to continue providing high quality and effectives services, Kinark needed to change our approaches to service to ensure we can continue to meet the needs of families in our community.
Kinark continued to build our fee-for-service autism program, and expanded the range of services we provide, on our own and in partnership with other providers.
“My family has learned a lot from this process, and the support we had was excellent. We have received priceless information that has helped us to understand better our son. We have also received simple and structured strategies to help us to handle some situations that were being very difficult for us to manage. It was great and we do appreciate this opportunity and support.” – Kinark Parent
In 2022-23, Kinark also continued to support the delivery of Early Years services as a provider in the York Simcoe Autism Network (YSAN). These services include Caregiver-mediated Early Years Programs and Entry to School. Kinark also delivered new Urgent Response Services in York Region, Simcoe County, Durham Region, and Peterborough.
We are proud to provide services and deliver programs that are high-quality and responsive to the changing needs of the families we support. To learn more about our autism services, please visit kinarkautismservices.ca.
Partnering with families to provide expert resources through our Family Education Series
Parents, caregivers, and other family members play an integral role in caring for children and youth experiencing mental health challenges.
In 2022, Kinark and our client families launched a new Family Advisory Committee comprised of 13 family members who have accessed our autism, child and youth mental health, forensic mental health and/or Kinark Outdoor Centre programs and services. These families were engaged in many projects across the agency, including policy review, co-designing spaces in our new offices in Markham and Peterborough, co-creating educational opportunities, and more.
In January 2023, Kinark launched a free Family Education Series that builds on caregivers’ ability to identify, understand, and respond to childhood and adolescent mental health distress. This series was created with our Family Advisory Committee and with feedback from the families we serve to understand how we can best support their needs.
Sessions occur every few months and are available for free to families across our service areas and the broader community. To learn more about the Family Education Series and view the sessions, click here.
Collaborating with our partners to strengthen community-based child and youth mental health
Our team of child and youth mental health experts provide evidence-based services for children and youth with complex mental health needs, and their families. A full range of assessment and treatment services are provided by inter-disciplinary teams of clinicians.
Kinark also serves as the Lead Agency for child and youth mental health services in three distinct service areas, supporting the coordination of service delivery across community partners. These service areas include York Region, Durham Region, and Haliburton/Kawartha Lakes/Peterborough.
One key project that took shape this year was enhancing crisis services in Durham Region, work that was led by Lakeridge Health hospital and community service providers – Frontenac Youth Services, Chimo Youth and Family Services, and Kinark
We are committed to supporting and collaborating with our community partners to strengthen the child and youth mental health sector across all our service areas. To read more about our Lead Agency work and to learn about the core service providers, click here.
Enhancing client experience at our new offices in Warden and Peterborough
After many months of planning and preparation, in February 2023, Kinark Child and Family Services relocated our Markham autism office and corporate head office to 7271 Warden Ave in Markham, Ont.
This was an exciting move as our new facility provides the organization with an opportunity to co-locate both programs into one dedicated space to better support children and youth with complex needs and their families.
The new facility is a dedicated building that ensures Kinark can continue to provide client-centric programs and services for autism clients and their families. The building will help to strength our presence in the community and also has some exciting new features, including:
- a multi-sensory Snoezelen room;
- a newly renovated ABA Centre and treatment rooms; and,
- an outdoor playground to be built in Summer 2023.
We are also excited to share that our Peterborough office relocated to 880 The Parkway in Peterborough, Ont., also in February 2023. This new office features client-centered program spaces, adapts to remote work options, and strengthens Kinark’s presence in the community. The space is another recent example of our commitment to our Integrated Talent Management (ITM) strategy.
Updated workstations, offices, and meeting spaces feature improved technology and ergonomic design elements to improve staff experience and team collaboration. It has been designed with accessibility in mind and is located close to shopping, public transit, and has plenty of available parking.
It’s an exciting time at Kinark and we are excited to have these new spaces to offer a variety of services and supports to families in each area.
Supporting staff experience through integrated talent management
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged us in many ways – for many people it has changed how we work, how we think about work and want to work. It helped us to imagine new ways of working.
In May 2022, Kinark launched a new Ways of Working (nWOW) strategy to support our staff experience and continue to be an employer of choice. nWOW is about building flexibility into how we work, and learning from and leveraging our experience working in the pandemic
Kinark’s nWOW strategy includes four key pillars:
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged us in many ways – for many people it has changed how we work, how we think about work and want to work. It helped us to imagine new ways of working.
In May 2022, Kinark launched a new Ways of Working (nWOW) strategy to support our staff experience and continue to be an employer of choice. nWOW is about building flexibility into how we work, and learning from and leveraging our experience working in the pandemic
Kinark’s nWOW strategy includes four key pillars:
- Disconnecting from work policy sets forth requirements for employers to establish a Right to Disconnect for employees
- Remote work allows employees to work from outside of office locations and gives them time back in their life that they would have used in their commute, etc.
- Core meeting hours to provide some guidelines for helping ensure meeting free hours were incorporated into employee’s day to day schedules
- Compressed work week gives eligible employees an option to flex their hours to be able to support work-life balance
Interested in career opportunities with Kinark? Be sure to check our current openings by clicking here.
Advancing our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Framework
Kinark has identified four specific areas of focus for our continued Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work as part of our commitment to acting on the recommendations of our 2021 Equity Audit.
- Build a comprehensive human resource strategy with DEI at the foundation
- Embed DEI into client service
- Embed DEI into the staff experience
- Develop an organizational DEI strategy with dedicated leadership
In 2022-23, Kinark launched diversity, equity, and inclusivity training leaders, piloted the collection of equity data with clients and families, and made updates to an initial set of organization policies from a DEI perspective. We look forward to continuing our DEI journey with our staff, clients, families, partners, and the community by our side.
Read more about Kinark’s commitment to DEI on our website here.
About Kinark
Kinark Child and Family Services is dedicated to helping children and youth with complex needs and their families achieve better life outcomes. Our three main program streams include:
Community-based Child and Youth Mental Health
Within all of our Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMH) locations, a full range of assessment and treatment services, including individual, family and group counselling, is provided by an inter-disciplinary team of clinicians to children and youth with complex needs and their families.
Autism Services
Kinark Autism Services provides a range of programs and services to best meet the individualized needs of children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. Services include Foundational Family Services, Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) Services, Psychological Assessments, and more.
Forensic Mental Health
Kinark provides one of three secure treatment programs in the province of Ontario. Our expert team provides assessment, treatment and re-integration services and supports for youth who have been diagnosed with significant mental health issues and where stabilization and recovery has not been achieved in other health settings. Kinark has the capacity for 24 beds within our secure treatment facility in Oakville, Ontario – Syl Apps Youth Centre.
As a leading child and youth service organization in Ontario, Kinark’s dedicated team of professionals delivers a range of services and supports in York, Durham and Halton Regions, Simcoe and the Four Counties of Haliburton, City of Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough and Northumberland.
Audited Financials
Kinark’s strong fiscal position enabled us to meet our strategic objectives to sustain accountable and efficient management of systems and processes that are centred on value and continuous quality improvements across the organization.
During the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023, Kinark received an unqualified audit report from our auditors (Hilborn LLP) and this fiscal year’s funding included transition funding from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and Ministry of Health funding for COVID-19 expenses. Kinark was able to meet or exceed service delivery targets while maintaining a strong financial position and operating within budget.
| FINANCIAL SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2023 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| OPERATING REVENUES | ||
| Government funding | $103,589,077 | $113,214,648 |
| Other revenues | $2,672,518 | $3,411,328 |
| TOTAL REVENUES | $106,261,595 | $116,625,976 |
| OPERATING EXPENSES | ||
| Salaries and benefits | $36,513,620 | $37,901,904 |
| Other expenses | $62,168,133 | $64,804,185 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | $98,681,753 | $102,706,089 |
| EXCESS OF REVENUES OVER EXPENSES FOR YEAR | $7,579,842 | $13,919,887 |
This financial summary has been extracted from Kinark’s 2022/23 audited financial statements, copies of which are available here.