Kids Come First - Key Focus Areas

Kids Come First will use digital health tools and virtual care to provide the appropriate care for children and youth and magnify our shared pediatric expertise to support children and youth in our region and across all Ontario Health Teams. Kids Come First partners include hospitals, service provider organizations, and others with extensive experience with innovation in digital health platforms. 

Kids Come First is committed to connecting and strengthening our relationship with Indigenous-led organizations and engaging in proper consultation. Kids Come First will respect the “Culture as Treatment” approach, aim to provide kind and competent care, and engage Indigenous organizations to provide culturally safe care. We are fully committed to working with Indigenous partners towards fulfilling the Ministry of Health expectations outlined in Bill 74, The People’s Health Care Act as it relates to Indigenous health and continuing meaningful engagement and consultation with Indigenous-led organizations, health leaders, and communities in the region. 

Kids Come First also believes Indigenous organizations are best positioned to provide culturally-based care to Indigenous children, youth, and families/caregivers and will proactively offer Indigenous children, youth and families/caregivers services that are offered at Indigenous agencies.

As of September 20, 2021, and on behalf of the Kids Come First Health Team, CHEO oversees and delivers local pediatric home care services and staff in the Eastern region. Kids Come First is thrilled to be implementing a system of pediatric healthcare truly built around the needs of patients and families, with better, faster, and more coordinated access so parents can focus on being parents. 

CHEO and the child and youth health organizations of the Kids Come First Health Team will work with families to co-design how to better connect care for children and youth who receive home and school services with all the other healthcare services they use — making it easier for families to get the right care, when and where they need it. 

Mental Health, Addictions, and Substance Use Health are priorities for Kids Come First. The Kids Come First Mental Health, Addictions, and Substance Use Health Table consists of over 25 children and youth Mental Health, Addictions, and Substance Use Health service providers who have banded together to collaboratively solve problems children, youth, and families are facing in the current healthcare system.  

This collective is committed to producing tangible and meaningful improvements to quality and access for our region’s families and for all providers who care for them. As a result, 1Call1Click.ca is a regional child and youth mental health system approach across the continuum of care and links together the services of our specialized child and youth mental health providers.

1Call1Click.ca is a regional, bilingual, coordinated access and navigation service for children, youth, families, and primary care providers in addition to coordinated care for children and youth with complex mental health 

For more information visit 1Call1Click.ca 

A foundational principle for our team is “Nothing about us without us", with youth and family partnerships being foundational to our Full Application project structure. Thirteen youth and family partners are co-leads and/or representatives on our various Kids Come First Working Groups. The Steering Committee is also co-chaired by a youth partner. Family and Youth partners ensure Kids Come First maintains a commitment to engagement and partnership throughout its work.  

Kids Come First is also devoted to partnering with children, youth, families, and caregivers by embedding a co-designed patient/family experience measurement and accountability framework for continuous quality improvement. We will not just say we partner; we will measure the effectiveness of doing so.