Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield continues to fight for local families who have children living with autism.
During Question Period in the Ontario Legislature on February 21, Hatfield shared a story of a Windsor-Essex mother who has a 17-year-old daughter living with autism.
Hatfield says Lori's daughter was approved for Special Services at Home funding eight months ago but has yet to receive the funding. He says the family is also waiting for funding from the Ontario Autism program.
Hatfield told the legislature that Lori is counting on the funding to help build her daughter's life skills.
"She was recently diagnosed with autism and also suffers from mental health challenges. But she's been unable to get access to the support she needs and recently Lori's daughter tried to take her own life and that may have been avoided had the support been there for when she needed it," he said.
He wants to know why the funding is not available and singled out the Deputy Premier as well as Lisa MacLeod, the Minister of Community and Social Services.
MacLeod says the proposed changes announced by the government earlier this month will assist families better.
"We feel it's unacceptable for children to languish on an endless wait list without any level of support from your Ontario government, which is why we're going to ensure that those three out of four children that are being denied support right now are given the support they need from their Ontario government," said MacLeod.
She says she's also willing to work with Hatfield.
"I'll have myself work with his staff to see if there's a way that we can support her once she transitions into adulthood, that is a very important issue that we are looking at and I'll continue to work with the member opposite to address these issues," said MacLeod.
The Special Services at Home program assists families of children with developmental disabilities access.
Earlier this month, the Conservatives announced policy changes, allowing families who have children living with autism to choose the services from providers of their choice, on a fee-for-service basis.
For a child diagnosed with autism at age two, they would receive a budget of $140,000 over those 16 years or under $9,000 per year.