865 Westney Road South, Ajax, ON, L1S 3M4
Phone: 905-427-8862
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Toll Free: 1-800-968-0066
As its name suggests, Resources for Exceptional Children and Youth (RFECY) is driven to support children and youth throughout Durham Region to get connected to the resources, services and supports that they and their families need most. In order to continue building capacity for children and youth with exceptional needs in Durham Region and beyond, RFECY is committed to questioning how they do things and are willing to innovate within their own organization, with their community partners and across sectors. Modernization and collaboration have been central tenets for RFECY over the past year as the agency has undergone tremendous change including the appointment of a new Executive Director, building, and investing in agency programs, services and building capacity for their team members.
Mission Statement
Mission
Advancing an inclusive community for children and youth with exceptional needs and their families.
Values
Inclusion: We believe that every child/youth has the right to participate fully in their home and community.
Individuality: We value the uniqueness of each child, youth, and family.
Family: We respect the family as being the primary support and decision maker for their child/youth.
Accountability: We commit to provide a collaborative and flexible service that is responsive and accountable to the child, youth, family, and community.
Our Story
Since its founding in 1987, Resources for Exceptional Children and Youth – Durham Region has sought to help families of children with special needs to navigate the often complex range of services and treatments from agencies in the Regional Municipality of Durham and beyond.
The starting point is often a contact from a community member or family, handled by an Access Coordinator. Access services can include a brief consultation or a single contact. If needed, linkage to other RFECY services is completed.
RFECY’s driving force is to achieve the best possible accessibility and coordination of services so that families receive the services they need. Collaboration is critical to RFECY’s work, both in the provision of service to families as well as working with community partners to improve system planning so that families have a better experience.
The team of skilled staff supports families and the community. Early Learning Inclusion Consultants work with local childcare programs to support programming, training, and strategies for inclusion of all children. The related Enhanced Staffing program funds additional staffing for early learning programs to support the inclusion of children with high needs.
The Coordinated Service Planning team supports families of children with multiple and/or complex needs with a focus on navigating service options. Intensive Service Coordinators work to find creative solutions when the complexity of needs requires support beyond what is being offered by the local service system.
Among other initiatives, staff also support services for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, the Talking About Mental Illness (TAMI) Durham program and, most recently, Urgent Response Services under the Ontario Autism Program.
RFECY has never stood still as an organization. Having begun as a resource to promote inclusion of pre-school children with special needs, the agency expanded to support older children and youth in 2002, mental health initiatives in 2005, service coordination in 2016, and Urgent Response Services for autism in 2022.
Funding comes from the Regional Municipality of Durham, the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and the Ontario Ministry of Health. Oversight is provided by a Board of Directors composed of parent and community representatives.
Our People/Our Team
RFECY staff prioritize capacity building for childcare providers, service provider partners and families/caregivers alike through training, modeling and providing resources that support learning and inclusion for all children. Their service planning, access and navigation services focus on multi-disciplinary, multi-agency collaboration to support complex children, youth and families and provide flexibility through making connections for families in order to reduce the need for further intervention and to leverage the strengths of the community systems in place to support families in their individual journeys. As RFECY goes into it’s strategic planning process, it expects that there will be a continued refreshing and updating of how they provide services so as to continue to enhance the outcome for children, youth and families that they work with.
Our Partners
Much like the children, youth and families they support, RFECY cannot do their work in isolation. Collaboration with community partners, funders and the childcare centers and families they serve is integral to the fibre of their being and this is mirrored in the work their dedicated staff do every day. RFECY calls upon and cultivates this community through their work and regularly collaborates with their partners to achieve better outcomes for clients. RFECY’s reach is wide and impactful for those they support.