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Constituent Society Corner |
OPHA Constituent Societies and Workgroups meet with
Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) Staff
On September 30, 2008 representatives of OPHA met with Julie Mathien, Sean Twyford, and Darryl Sturtevant, Strategic Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) to discuss several issues important to child and youth health.
Healthy Babies, Healthy Children (HBHC) – Although OPHA advocated for funding indexed to inflation, it was reiterated that due to financial constraints, there would be no increases in HBHC funding this year. Health Units have the option of negotiating the services they will provide for the funding they receive. It was stressed that this was a universal program that benefited all children. While it was acknowledged that there are two pilot projects on service delivery options, there was presently no overall evaluation planned.
Public Health Standards and Protocols – OPHA commended MCYS on their cross-ministry support of the Public Health Standards and Protocols. We reinforced our position that we are looking for enhanced emphasis on breastfeeding in the program support documents, in particular support for the WHO Baby-Friendly Initiative. It was brought to our attention that there was a provincial child health committee within MOHLTC through which MCYS is working and it was recommended that OPHA work with this committee to gain additional support for breastfeeding. We emphasized that the Nutritious Food Basket for which there was a Protocol within the Chronic Disease Prevention program was an important tool that could be used by MCYS in their poverty reduction strategy.
Mental Health – OPHA commended MCYS on its paper on mental health for youth, A Shared Responsibility [PDF]. We emphasized that public health plays an important role as a point of access to mental health promotion, prevention and screening – especially through work in school health. As well, we pointed out that this work was not acknowledged as part of the public health mandate. We requested that this work be recognized and emphasized in the program manual to support the implementation of the Child and Youth Health Program within the Public Health Standards. In addition, we advocated for a comprehensive mental health strategy as recommended by the Mental Health Commissioner’s report.
Student Nutrition Standards - We congratulated the MCYS on the new money announced for this program and learned that a number of indicators, e.g. low income level and poor school performance, were used to identify the schools that would be targeted with this new funding. Although the schools are targeted, all children in the school will have access to the breakfast or morning meal/snack program.. One-time funding was also made available for fridges and stoves. The new nutrition standards were posted on the day we met. We emphasized that the nutrition standards should be the same for all programs in schools.
Day Nurseries Act – Plans are in place to revamp the Day Nurseries Act and regulations in 2009-2010. OPHA has already recommended that the Day Nurseries Act be changed to reflect the new Canada’s Food Guide. The timing is now right for the public health community to provide input into the content of the regulations.
Poverty Reduction Strategy - OPHA reiterated its recommendations on poverty reduction as put forth at the AGM last year by the Food Security Work Group. We also highlighted the commitment for new money for dental health programs and indicated that we expected that the downturn in the economy would not interfere with its implementation. Dr Sinton provided a summary of the literature which indicates that a combination of income redistribution and efforts to increase employment worked best in addressing child wellbeing. We were assured that there would be a poverty reduction strategy introduced even though the Primer has announced a delay which is likely due to the economic downturn.
The MCYS staff provided OPHA with an overview of their Strategic Plan, Realizing Potential: Our children, Our Youth, Our Future, Spring 2008. This document is shaping the future directions of MCYS.
Representing OPHA at the meeting were Liz Haugh, Monica Mitchell, Lori Levere, Tracy Woloshyn, Barb Bartle, Dr. Joyce Sinton, and Connie Uetrecht. Input into OPHA's agenda also included Carol Yandreski and Gloria Morris.
There are currently 11 Constituent Societies of OPHA. Their representatives sit on the OPHA Board of Directors, and are elected by their respective societies.
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