Sparrow Lake Alliance | Goals of the Alliance

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	Dr. Paul Steinhauer

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Since its inception the goals, structure, and activities of the Sparrow Lake Alliance (SLA) have been directed to ensure the conditions necessary for all Ontario children and youth have the best start possible in life.

The Alliance has invested in the belief that promoting healthy development for all children will improve outcomes for children and youth while diminishing for many the need for specialized children's mental health, child welfare, and remedial educational services. The interdisciplinary nature of the Alliance has allowed it to bridge many of the gaps that have long existed among the various service sectors.

The SLA membership shares a commitment to ensuring a better life for all of Ontario’s children and youth. However, because many of its members work with children and youth professionally, its particular emphasis is on prevention and on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of existing services.



		To achieve better provision, coordination and integration of services for children, youth and families in all areas of the province.

		To expand and improve upon the collaboration that has already begun between the ministries responsible for the planning and provision of services for children, the various professionals that provide the services, and the consumers whom they serve.

		To advocate for and encourage efforts towards improving the physical health, nutrition, safety, emotional well being, education and optimal development of all children and youth in Ontario, but especially those who are poor or otherwise disadvantaged.

		To continue the promotion of prevention and early intervention for all ages.

		To advocate for children and youth's entitlements, and to increase their priority on the political agenda.

		To identify and develop implementation strategies to achieve the above goals.

Revisiting the Goals of the Sparrow Lake Alliance

Within the context of the changes in leadership and administration that took place in late 2000, the SLA took the opportunity to revisit and recommit to the original mission and goals developed by in 1989. Upon reviewing the rich history of Alliance, it was determined that the guiding mission statement and core values as listed above were in fact very much the same today as they were some 12 years ago. Although clearly the Alliance was ahead if its time in its focus on cross-sectoral initiatives, it is unfortunately still the case that children’s and youth services (education, health, social services and justice) exist in “silos” where providers, professionals and policymakers from different sectors have few opportunities for meaningful interaction.

The need to advance collaboration, coordination, and integration is now even more evident than ever before to both children’s service providers and to all levels of Government. While the principle of working together has generated considerable if interest, and even a few inter-Ministerial initiatives, the current climate appears much more amenable to this form of activity than it did a dozen years ago, at the time the SLA began. Therefore, it is essential that the SLA continue to offer a vital forum that brings together service providers and funding bodies from all areas, on neutral ground, to “think outside the box,” about how we can achieve better outcomes and richer lives for our children.

Accordingly, looking to the future, the SLA will continue to focus on opportunities that build on our strong record of cross-sectoral policy advocacy, action and research on the part of Ontario’s children and youth. Our motivation is compelling - the needs of our children are even greater than when the Alliance was established, but little has changed across the various sectors of the service system. In order to create the greatest possible positive impact on services for children and youth within this new phase of the SLA, the Alliance is now focused on two key objectives:



		To provide a forum for intersectoral collaboration, coordination, and integration.

		To develop, by consensus, initiatives in service collaboration, coordination, and integration in order to deliver services in such a way that produces better outcomes for our children and youth.

Towards these ends, the SLA Annual Meeting represents an important opportunity for those working in the field of children and youth services across the province to come together without the constraints of day-to-day responsibilities, and to develop consensus on the most pressing needs or the most promising opportunities in the current Ontario situation for systemic change in the delivery of services.