Celebrating 1 Year of Early Help!

 "Dear Peel CAS, I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for the immense support you provided me during a challenging time in my life. When my baby was born, I found myself facing significant financial, mental, and emotional struggles. Losing my father, who was a pillar of support, added to the burden of rising living costs. It became increasingly difficult to keep up with the bills, especially with the delay in receiving benefits due to the waiting period.

Your assistance was a beacon of hope during this dark period. Your guidance and support were invaluable. Knowing that help was available alleviated my worries, and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. Your assistance not only provided financial relief but also contributed to reducing my anxiety and helping me navigate the challenges of new motherhood amidst a history of mental illness.

I am immensely grateful for the lifeline you extended to me and my family. Your kindness and compassion made a world of difference, and I cannot thank you enough for your generosity and support during this trying time." - Peel CAS Early Help Client L.E

We are so proud to be celebrating all of the wonderful milestones we have achieved this year with our Early Help and Prevention initiative, and we just had to share some of these awesome accomplishments with you!

Early help and prevention planning works with families to ensure children feel safe and are able to succeed and thrive within the family unit. This project aligns with a key pillar of the Ontario Government's Child Welfare Redesign, focusing on strengthening partnerships, prevention, and early intervention. Our focus is to identify and respond to the unique needs of families early on while connecting them quickly to appropriate and effective community-based supports. It is our goal that early help and prevention will work to increase positive outcomes for the families we serve while reducing the number of children and youth that come into our care. Learn More

Since January until April of this year, 107 cases have been opened:

31 cases (29%) were of South Asian, Saudi Arabian, Mexican and Middle Eastern descent. Within this group, South Asians were largely represented due to a high number of students and asylum seekers

76 cases (71%) were Black families particularly from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana and consisted largely of asylum seekers. Most cases were referred due to food insecurity, housing crisis, and expectant parents with no ability to meet their children’s basic needs

Supporting these families through Early Help and Prevention ensures that their needs are addressed and met early on to help them thrive within their family unit and their community. 

The team has also developed a new Community Around Families Table (CAF-T) which works collaboratively with partners across the region to evaluate and rapidly respond to cases that have been identified as in need of urgent early help and preventative support. Through evaluation, CAF members may also make note of trends, vulnerabilities and assess the needs of these families. The table's mission is to ensure that every child and youth is given the best opportunity to succeed through equal access to pivotal preventative resources and services that increase their full potential to attain positive outcomes. 

“Dear Peel CAS, we are so excited and appreciative of the $1,000 gift card donation you are giving to our school to support our families who reside at the Peel shelters. We will create a plan to give the families the gift cards, so that some of their financial burdens will be eased. The gift cards will go towards lice kits, food, body care supplies (lotion, hair care, lip treatment) and weather appropriate clothing. This gift will impact many families and students.”  - Meena Grewal, Principal at Ray Underhill PS