Children and Youth with Support Needs

Children and Youth with Support Needs (CYSN) is changing how it delivers financial supports and services to better meet families and children’s needs.

Over the next three years, families will see:

• A simpler system: Easier to navigate with less paperwork.
• Expanded community services: Access to more free services and therapies closer to home and more programs for school-age children and teens.
• More financial support: Increased benefits for children with the highest needs and new funding for families who haven’t received support before.
• Earlier access to services and funding. More children will be supported with early inventions without waiting years for a specific diagnosis.
• Recognition of complexity and multiple diagnoses. Many children have multiple diagnoses or complex, overlapping needs. Supports will reflect the cumulative need rather than treating diagnoses in isolation.
• More choice for families: Flexible options including direct funding to choose services themselves or working with community providers to coordinate services on their behalf.
• Better coordination: Working with health and education partners to bring more services directly to the child.

• Diagnosis and assessment: Diagnosis will continue to be available through current pathways. It remains important for understanding a child’s needs, planning supports, and helping to access programs such as the Canada Disability Tax Credit.
• Family support services: CYSN family support services and pilot disability services will continue. Families already receiving these supports will remain eligible. CYSN workers will keep helping families access current services and navigate future changes.
• Respite: Both Direct Funded Respite and Agency Coordinated Respite will continue for eligible families.
• Health and medical supports: Health care, nursing supports, and At Home Program medical equipment and supplies remain unchanged.
• Community‑based services: Existing free community‑based programs will continue and be expanded over time, such as Infant Development, Supported Child Development, FASD Key Worker, and therapy services.
• School supports: Inclusive education funding and school support processes remain the same. The new BC Disability Benefit does not replace or affect school‑based supports.
• Core principles: Child‑centred services, continuity of care, and family‑focused planning will continue to guide all support delivery during the transition.

B.C. is introducing important changes to how children and youth are supported across the province.

New and expanded programs

• Introducing two new direct funding programs
  • BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit
  • BC Children and Youth Disability Supplement
• Expanding community-based services

These programs will replace some current funding options. All families currently receiving services will be contacted by a ministry worker for step-by-step support through the transition.

Changing programs

• School‑Aged Extended Therapies (SAET)
  • SAET will transition to the new Disability Benefit starting April 2026.
  • All children who currently receive SAET through the At Home Program are eligible for the Disability Benefit.
  • New families can apply for SAET until March 2027.
• Autism Funding
  • Some families receiving Autism Funding will transition to the new Disability Benefit starting July 2026. All children will have more access to free community-based services.
  • New families can apply for Autism Funding until March 2027. Diagnosis and eligibility processes remain the same.
  • Autism Funding will end April 1, 2027 and replaced with the Disability Benefit and Disability Supplement.

Learn more

• Guide for current service recipients (PDF, 1MB)

During the transition period, ministry workers will contact all families currently receiving supports to discuss their eligibility for the new disability benefit. They will also explain the expanded community-based services and how the new disability supplement works.

Step-by-step support for families

CYSN workers, the Autism Funding team, and Autism Information Services will help families with:

• Understanding how the redesigned system works
• Determining what supports and services their child might be eligible to receive
• Preparing Disability Tax Credit (DTC) information, if needed
• Setting up direct deposit for new benefits
• Choosing a funding payment option (invoice/bill payment, direct funding, or agency‑coordinated payment)
• Identifying service options that best meet their child’s needs

Learn more

• Guide for current service recipients (PDF, 1MB)

Expanded community-based services will focus on four priority areas. These areas are designed to help children earlier in their development, reduce wait times, and ensure the right level of support is available as their needs change over time.

The expansion of services will be phased over multiple years to ensure sustainable growth.

Behavioural and mental health supports (Summer 2027)

• Helps children and youth experiencing behavioural or mental health challenges, including aggression, anxiety, emotional regulation difficulties, social challenges, and school exclusion.
• Supports may include assessment-informed intervention, skill-building, caregiver coaching, and coordinated care for children with more complex or escalating needs.
• Services are intended to intervene earlier, stabilize families, and reduce the need for crisis-driven responses.

Navigation and Family Support Services (Winter 2027)

• Helps families understand what supports are available and how to access them across health, education, and community systems.
• Designed to reduce the burden on families to coordinate care on their own and support planning, referrals, and transitions as children’s needs evolve.
• Access is particularly important for families with complex needs, those without a single diagnosis, and those living in rural or remote communities.

Expanded programs for children 6-18 (Spring 2028)

• Increases access to age-appropriate services for school-aged children and youth, including therapeutic, behavioural, social, and recreational supports.
• Designed to build skills, promote participation, and support wellbeing across home, school, and community settings.
• Group-based and community-delivered models will be used where appropriate to support social development, reduce isolation, and serve more children sooner.

Pediatric Therapies (Spring 2026)

• Expanded therapies (speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy) will will have a stronger focus on integration with behavioural and mental health supports.
• Designed to support children’s communication, mobility, self-care, and daily functioning.
• Delivered in ways that align with children’s goals and everyday environments, such as home, community, and school settings.

As community-based services are expanded over the next three years, children with support needs will have more access to services and therapies closer to home – without waiting years for a specific diagnosis.

Families will see

• Improved access to high-quality supports closer to home, reducing travel time and wait periods.
• Support across childhood and adolescence, not just in the early years or during short windows of eligibility.
• Less financial pressure, as more services are available at no cost or low cost, reducing reliance on out-of-pocket spending.
• Greater continuity of care, with services that are easier to navigate and access consistently over time.

More choice, allowing families to combine community-based services with direct funding or private supports in ways that work best for them.

Community-based services will be delivered by regulated professionals and qualified support workers who work together in teams.

Team-based approaches allow professionals to work their full scope of practice, extend the reach of specialized clinicians, and ensure children receive timely, coordinated supports that match the complexity of their needs.

Providers may include

• Behavioural specialists
• Family support workers and navigators
• Mental health support professionals
• Occupational therapists
• Physical therapists
• Speech-language pathologists

Approach to growing the workforce

• Extend specialist reach through team-based care enabling clinicians to focus on assessment and complex needs while trained assistants support delivery – helping more children access services sooner.
• Grow the therapy workforce faster by expanding the use of therapy assistants and related roles, supported by existing training pathways and partnerships with post-secondary and future-skills programs.
• Bring new graduates into practice sooner through structured onboarding and mentorship, building capacity quickly while maintaining quality and clinical oversight.
• Provide students and new graduates with opportunities to practice, with supervision, across the province – providing enhanced services in historically underserved communities and introducing students and new graduates to communities outside of urban areas.

Supports and services will be expanded in phases to ensure families have time, support and continuity as the new programs are introduced.

Timeline for new financial supports

• April 2026: School-Aged Expanded Therapy program begins transition to the Disability Benefit
• July 2026: Autism Funding begins transition to Disability Benefit
• March 31, 2027: Autism Funding ends.
• April 1, 2027: Disability Benefit now available to all eligible families
• July 2027: Disability Supplement payments begin

Timeline for expanding services

• Spring 2026: Continued expansion of existing early intervention therapies (occupational, physio, speech therapies and behaviour support)
• Summer 2027: Continued expanded behaviour and mental health supports
• Winter 2027: Expanded navigation and family support
• Spring 2028: Expanded programming for children and teens