Our Mission:
To assist children of all abilities from Prince George and surrounding communities to develop to their highest potential through family-centred, child focused rehabilitation, early childhood education and support services.Vision:
Developing potential, exploring possibilitiesGuiding Principles:
Collaborative:
We use a collaborative,
multidisciplinary approach to improve service
outcomes to the region’s children.
This
philosophy extends internally as well as externally, with complementary
service
providers and medical practitioners.
Accountable:
Our core purpose is to improve the lives of the
children we serve. Given
available resources, our staff members
are each responsible for providing the best services possible in their
area of
responsibility.
Respectful:
The Centre’s staff members operate within a culture
of respect for each
other, the children and families we serve, and other regional
stakeholders. Family input and participation is respected as an
integral component of each child’s
development.
Holistic:
Our services are designed to help the whole child,
including the
balanced development of social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and
communication skills.
Sustainable:
We commit to running sustainable programming, ensuring the highest
level of services over the long-term.
Optimized Services:
Each year, the Child Development Centre makes a difference in the lives of over 1100 children. We have worked diligently to maximize our services by ensuring optimal use of available resources. This focus was acknowledged in our last accreditation survey, where we received a rare acknowledgment from CARF for exemplary conformance to the standards:Collaborative Services and the Future:
One of the ways that the CDC and other service providers have elevated regional services is though enhancing collaborative practices. Three years ago, the CDC and the Northern Health Authority’s Speech and Language Clinic merged their intakes including the use of a shared electronic client information system. The CDC also regularly includes local paediatricians and other service providers in their case conferences. This collaboration has improved communication between service providers and decreased administrative burden through reduced intra-organizational duplication. Individualized treatment plans have also benefited by integrating shared observations by professionals across multiple agencies. The CDC is now working to further extend these benefits.Our vision for the future includes implementing of the Province’s first service network for children with special needs. This network would provide tremendous benefits to the region’s children and their parents, including the added benefit of simplified pathways to service; parents could access the services of several providers through a single referral. We envision this network offering service from a number of locations throughout the City, including the Hart, College Heights, and at least one additional location in Prince George. Although this is a daunting project, it holds the promise of substantial service enhancements. At least three service networks have been implemented to great effect in other regions of Canada, including the following two networks in Ontario:
- The Children's Treatment Network of Simcoe York
- Children and Youth Treatment Network for Eastern Ontario
Beyond Prince George, the CDC provides outreach services to Mackenzie, Valemount, and McBride -- locations where we have also developed excellent working relationships with local agencies. We are currently working toward developing an outreach video conferencing program in cooperation with the Northern Health Authority. The proposed program will include distance mentoring for developmental professionals, as well as enhancing our outreach services with additional distance services to children with special needs and their parents.
