Urgent Response Services (URS) is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services through the Ontario Autism Program (OAP).
The service is focused on supporting autistic children and youth who are experiencing a specific, urgent need and want to access supports to help stabilize the situation, prevent crisis, and reduce the risk of the child or youth harming themselves, others and property.
Service through the URS may include:
- Short-term interdisciplinary consultation to a child/youth’s family and other professionals who may be working with the child and family including educator(s);
- Respite services;
- Direct support to the family and/or professionals involved to implement behavioral and therapy strategies with the child/youth using a mediator model approach; and
- Service Navigation
Each family will have a URS Coordinator working with them to develop and oversee the service plan and to provide service navigation to other services within or outside of the OAP.
Children and youth can get up to 12 weeks of free supports.
Urgent response services do not provide funding to purchase supports. Children and youth registered in the OAP can access urgent response services while receiving other OAP services and supports.
To be eligible for OAP urgent response services, you/your child must be:
- registered in the OAP
- experiencing one or more key high-risk factors that:
- have started or worsened in the last 14 days
- can be supported by OAP urgent response services – you will find out through a standard intake process
High-risk factors include:
- aggression
- property destruction
- violent thinking
- fire setting
- harm to animals
- risk of exploitation
- self-injurious behaviour
- suicidal thoughts or behaviour
- inappropriate sexual behaviour
- flight risk
For information about access and registration for Urgent Response Services in Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, please connect with our partner agency, KidsInclusive.
For more information about Urgent Response Services, please refer to the Ontario Autism Program.