Ensuring families have access to the information and reports they need to manage their child or youth’s care improves their experience, especially with so many families navigating between providers and services. Our new Client and Family Portal puts critical information right at the fingertips of caregivers so they can make decisions about their child’s care, advocate for their needs, apply for funding or prepare for upcoming appointments.

A plan was developed to use the portal feature in AlayaCare. During the project’s Discovery Phase, a project charter was developed, portal demonstrations were completed, and user groups identified a Terms of Reference for conducting the Design Phase of the initiative. During that phase, user groups comprised of clinical staff, leaders, Family Advisors and Clinical Information Systems (CIS) staff launched the project, meeting biweekly to ensure the Client and Family Portal design would meet the needs of its users.

Technical testing took place from January to March 2026, enabling the Client and Family Portal design to be refined and improved. During the Execution Phase, the project team created supporting documents and resources for families, training for clinicians and other materials to support a successful rollout of the technology. Volunteers were also recruited for the Beta testing, to be completed in Fall 2026.

Together, these improvements strengthened family-centred service delivery, increased accessibility and created new opportunities for clients and caregivers to feel supported and included. This demonstrates Grandview Kids’ ongoing leadership in and commitment to ensuring the family voice drives decision-making and service improvements for the organization in meaningful, measurable ways.

Childhood is precious. At Grandview Kids, we have the honour of supporting children, youth and families navigate complex health journeys. When a child’s journey comes to an end, Grandview Kids is here to support families through grief. In May 2025, we introduced Grandview Kids’ Memorial Service.

With the help of our partners at Sloane’s House, Bereaved Families of Ontario – Durham Chapter and the Bawaajigewin Aboriginal Community Circle, Team Grandview honoured the stories of children who have gone before us. Through song, art, blessings and reflection, we remembered. Thank you to members of Team Grandview, the families and siblings and the greater Durham Region community who ensure the legacy of their love lives on.

Designed with caregivers in mind, this workshop introduces practical goal-setting techniques aligned with CanChild’s F-Words framework. It helps families identify meaningful goals that support each child or youth’s unique growth, development and participation.

The workshop delivers practical tools to support goal setting at home and in everyday routines. It includes shared stories and expert insights that build caregiver confidence. The workshop offers caregivers a sense of connection with other families caring for children with disabilities.

Launched in November 2025, 13 families attended the workshop in 2025-26. Interest has continued to grow. These sessions help empower families and support children and youth to thrive in therapy and beyond.

Reduce the overall wait time by 2%

The overall wait time (median days) across all services decreased to 170 days from the 2025/26 target of 304 days.

Reduce the wait time by 10% in the SBRS-SLP Elementary Pathways and Early Years/PSL Services

In 2025-26, the wait time (median days) in the School Based Rehabilitation – Speech Language Pathology Elementary Pathway decreased by 7% and by 44% in the Early Years / Preschool Speech and Language Program.

Reduce the wait time by 10% in Medical Services

We reduced wait times for Medical Services by 10% from an average of 331 to 256 days. This enabled children to see our developmental paediatricians sooner and receive vital assessments, diagnoses and early interventions when timing matters most.

Grandview Kids’ commitment to anti-racism and culturally-safer care arrived in many forms this year. More than 200 client-facing staff completed Indigenous Cultural Competency and Anti-racism training this year, strengthening our approach to culturally-safer care.

And we closed out the IDEA Survey, hearing from more than 500 parents or Grandview clients waiting to access and accessing services. Through our partnership with Ontario Tech University, we are diving deeper into the results, learning how the intersection of race and disability impacts equitable access to care.

We have a responsibility to apply this learning to our daily practice. We’ll start by defining culturally safer care with Dr. Fiona Moola at Toronto Metropolitan University through a Tri-Council Partnership Engage Grant. We continue to learn about the diversity of our community and apply promising practices to ensure every child and youth receives care that is evidence-informed, culturally responsive and family-centred.

Our Finance and Accounting team began implementing Microsoft Dynamics Business Central in September 2025. The overall process included detailed planning, system configuration, data migration, user training, testing and finally “Go-live.”

During the process, our accounting processes were reviewed and mapped into Business Central. The core modules implemented were configured, with the final data cleansed and migrated into the new system. Integration, workflows and security roles were also incorporated to support day-to-day operations. The tool went live in March 2026, enabling us to complete our end-of-year audit and financial statements using the new software. We will continue to further refine and use this software to improve our internal processes.

The Business Continuity Plan was created, summarizing all current policies, procedures and risks, including natural infrastructure failures, Information Technology (IT) disruptions, security threats, hazardous materials, medical emergencies and potential cyber incidences. The Plan also includes roles and responsibilities, communication and overall business impact. The document will be reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis as policies and procedures evolve and change.

Over the last year, a Collaborative Steering Committee – inclusive of Grandview Kids leaders, staff and youth advocates – has developed a plan to establish an Inclusive Recreation Program at Grandview Kids. We have long known this can be a gap in our community and for the clients and families we serve. We are keen to begin addressing this need, optimizing the amenities of The Jerry Coughlan Building, and bringing in community experts to partner on program delivery.

Through this new program, we aspire to lead in accessible, inclusive recreation—offering dynamic programs that inspire participation, foster partnerships and build pathways into the broader community for children and youth.

To support planning and development, we conducted a thorough current state assessment of offerings available in our community. A robust engagement strategy was also executed, capturing valuable feedback from clients and caregivers about current programs and experiences, challenges and barriers to participation and ideas for how to address those barriers. These critical insights shaped the development of our approach.

Once our Engagement Phase was complete, we shifted focus to partnership development, as this Program will be co-designed by and hosted at Grandview Kids, but overseen and delivered by community partners. An environmental scan of potential partners was conducted, with the Steering Committee identifying the five preferred partners to begin co-designing shared programming, which will begin in Fall 2026.

A five-year strategy, with the goal of growing our Inclusive Recreation offerings in response to community need and interest, will guide our work in the years ahead. Attracting community donors to offset the cost of programming to make it more accessible to families is also a key goal as this work continues.

In 2025-26, Grandview Kids advanced its commitment to timely, equitable and coordinated care by developing and implementing an organization-wide standard for client flow. The Client Flow Strategy establishes a consistent approach for how children, youth and families move through their journey with Grandview Kids: from eligibility and intake through assessment, intervention, transition and discharge.

The strategy was designed to better understand and respond to changing service demand, while supporting efficient use of organizational capacity. It brings together standardized intake and referral processes, waitlist and caseload management, clearly defined roles and responsibilities and data-informed decision-making to identify and address barriers to accessing services. Real-time performance information, including caseload volumes, wait times and referral-to-service timelines, helps teams and leaders identify emerging pressures and take action to improve flow.

Importantly, the approach places children, youth and families at the centre. Early supports help families access information and strategies while awaiting assessment, while coordinated intervention, reassessment and transition planning support continuity throughout the client journey.

Client flow is also embedded within Grandview Kids’ continuous quality improvement approach. Performance is monitored through regular data review, quarterly reporting and annual strategy review, while SPARK (Strategize, Plan, Assess, Refine, Keep improving) teams use Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to test and implement improvements.

Through this work, Grandview Kids has established a common organizational framework for client flow: strengthening consistency, accountability and our ability to adapt services as the needs of children, youth and families across Durham Region continue to evolve.