Agency Highlights

Brokerage

Lake Ridge Community Support Services (LRCSS) continued to broker funds for the DSB services which are operated through Sunrise Youth Group (SYG).

SYG was able to remain open to in-person programming for the majority of the fiscal year.  The Day program, however, did have a brief closure from April to May 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns.  The In-house Day Program members affected by the closure were able to utilize the Virtual Day Program.

The In-house Day Program was able to safely return to full capacity member attendance by December 2021.  SYG was able to have 28 members (7 full-time, 21 part-time).  SYG was able to accept 4 new members for the Day Program through the exposure of the Virtual Day Program and three members decided to move on either due to lack of interest or travel-related issues.  The Day Program currently has a waitlist of 21 individuals interested in specific days and/or are waiting to graduate high school to join.  This number decreased over the last fiscal year as several Day Program spaces became available and were accepted by individuals on the waitlist.

Previously, the In-house Day Program and Virtual Day Program were offered as hybrid programs.  Both programs would be simultaneously facilitated.  In December 2021, the Virtual Program expanded to its own independent program being solely facilitated by a team of virtual staff.  The virtual program is accessed by In-house members on their off days or days they felt unsafe to attend in-person, as well as Recreational members.  There is great interest in the Virtual Day Program and it receives consistent attendance.

The Day Program has four full-time staff, two part-time virtual staff members and fourteen on-call staff who ensure that SYG is providing outstanding support for all members.

The Day Program strives to foster friendships, promote independence, and encourage acceptance.  The staff provides remarkable programming for the In-house Program and Virtual Program.  The programming is creative and innovative while modified to meet the varying needs of the members.  The staff has been able to seamlessly adapt programming to meet In-house and virtual criteria.

The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Service (MCCSS) annually funds $63,972.67 to offset the cost of $217,617.56 to operate the Day Program and the balance is paid through member fees.  Over the 2021-2022 fiscal year, MCCSS was able to provide additional financial support of $58,467.03 to offset the additional costs of COVID-19 and virtual programming.

Durham Staff Training Committee

LRCSS also brokers the Durham Staff training Committee fund on behalf of MCCSS funded adult developmental service agencies in the Durham Region. The committee is comprised of members from all agencies and works together to plan and access additional training throughout the year. Throughout the pandemic, the training committee was able to continually adapt and organize many virtual training events to support learning and development for all staff across the sector. Topics offered over the past year included mental wellness, skill development for challenging behaviour, Fierce Conversations training, as well as training for a deeper understanding of psychotropic medications and their impact. Over the past fiscal year, 357 Durham Region staff received training through the funding of $40,000.