Providing your family with a Circle of Support

Halton Service Coordination is in association with Halton Coordinated Service Planning (CSP)

Service Coordination creates circles of support as needed around each child or youth and their family to promote healthy child development and to ensure children and youth have access to effective, formal integrated services and natural supports.

Halton Service Coordination is:

• Family-Centred
• Strength-Based
• Culturally Competent
• Advocacy-Based
• Collaborative

Service Coordination does not require a referral and is offered to families when one or more of the following are present:

• Family (or child/youth) has complex and/or unique needs
• Family (or child/youth) is involved with or requires several supports and services
• Family is experiencing stress or confusion due to their involvement with multiple agencies and would like help sorting out agency roles
• Family is involved in intensive service provision (e.g. CAS)
• Links between formal services and natural supports could be useful
• Family is open to participate in Service Coordination

Goals of Service Coordination:

• With family involvement, strengths, needs and resources are recognized and built upon
• Services and supports match the needs of the family
• Increased clarity of who is involved and why
• Decreased duplication in service provision - One Family, One Story, One Plan
• Increased effectiveness of services and supports, through the development of one comprehensive Family Service Plan
• Family has decreased need for formal supports as they gain strength in their ability to advocate for themselves and connect with natural supports.
• Improved child health and development
• Increased parenting confidence and knowledge
• Decreased parental stress
• Increased parental support
• Increased family integration into the community

Find out if Service Coordination is right for you and your family:

Halton Service Coordination Brochure

Information For Service Coordination Providers

Click here to view the Service Provider 2019-2020 Training Dates

Service Coordination is both a philosophy and a process. It is aimed at supporting family-centred, strength-based service planning for families who have children/youth with special or complex needs. Service Coordination enables families to achieve and maintain a quality of life consistent with their values, priorities, strengths and preferences. The process is individualized, responsive and inclusive of both formal and natural supports for families in their community.

Core to Service Coordination is the relationship with the family, based on trust and respect. Through outreach and the genuine expression of care and interest, families are more likely to engage in the process of Service Coordination and move toward successful outcomes.

Halton Service Coordination is a community process that can be provided by many service providers in our community. We offer community training for service providers many times through-out the year.

Who are Service Coordinators?

The Service Coordinator is directly responsible for the planning and coordination of services in collaboration with the family and other service and support team members. The Service Coordinator role can be taken on by any member of the “family team” (including the family). Initially, however, the ongoing Service Coordinator may be the service provider who:

• Is a paid professional, accountable to their employer and trained to provide Service Coordination
• May have the longest ongoing involvement with the family
• Is requested by the family to take on the role

If you are a Service Coordinator, your role and responsibilities include:

• Assess, identify, and review with the family their strengths, needs and resources
• Coordinate the services/supports making up the family team
• Facilitate the meeting and overall Service Coordination process
• Facilitate the communication process between family team members in order to minimize duplication, increase role clarity, and respond to crisis
• Review/monitor the progress of the Family Service Plan and identify need for revisions
• Remain involved until a transfer of the Service Coordinator role is determined or when the family is no longer requiring or requesting Service Coordination

The Service Coordinator is directly responsible for the planning and coordination of services in collaboration with the family and other service and support team members.

Levels of Service Coordination:

Service Coordination Guidelines:

Halton has been fortunate to have the Halton Service Coordination Model which was originally developed through Halton Healthy Babies Healthy Children in collaboration with multiple service providers. The guidelines have been revised and updated with the collaboration of many community partners invested and committed to the Service Coordination process.

In 2018, it was decided that the Halton Service Coordination model formally supported by Our Kids Network would align with the Halton Coordinated Service Planning (CSP) initiative and be moved to ROCK Reach Out Centre for Kids, the Lead Agency for CSP in Halton.

The original Service Coordination Guidelines were developed through Halton Healthy Babies Healthy Children in collaboration with multiple service providers in April 2011. To view the updated Halton Service Coordination Guidelines, click on:

Halton Service Coordination Guidelines

Halton Service Coordination Action Plan

If you would like further information about the model or training, please contact Trish D'Amelio at hsc@rockonline.ca.