Our Kids Are Worth It: Strategy for Children and Youth

This page features highlights from  Our Kids Are Worth It: Strategy for Children and Youth (PDF) 

The highlights are also available as a PDF brochure. (Aussi disponible en français.)

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Building a Strong Foundation

We are

• creating a “well child system”—where teams of nurses, nutritionists, doctors, dentists, and others work together so babies and families can access a full range of services with one visit, at convenient times, in one place
• adding more child care spaces, particularly in rural communities
• linking efforts across government and with communities to reduce poverty, get kids active and eating well, and keep kids safe

Identifying Problems, Helping Early

We are

• checking more often on the development of babies, toddlers, and young children—for example, we are starting to assess the educational and social well-being of all grade primary students
• testing new ways to reach out to families—for example, with telephone coaching and by making home visits available to families for as long as they need

Co-ordinating Programs, Services

We are

• testing ways to bring the people and programs that serve kids and their families together (a) to develop comprehensive plans that deal with their full range of needs and (b) to make more services available in schools and other welcoming, accessible places
• working as teams across government focused more on the real and changing needs of children, youth, and families, and less on the mandates of government  epartments
• hiring new regional staff who will work with local advisory groups to improve the coordination of services in communities

Reporting Results

We’re evaluating all of our new projects, and we’ll share our results. We’ll also report on progress on all activities each year.

Charting Our Progress

Real and lasting change takes time. The full impact of our effort will only be seen as our youngest children grow and develop. In the meantime, we’ve set  outcomes to chart our progress, such as

• more active youth
• shorter waits for mental health services
• fewer student dropouts
• more youth volunteering
• fewer youth involved in crime

Read the full document: Our Kids Are Worth It: Strategy for Children and Youth (PDF)

Related information

• Child and Youth Strategy