Welcome from the Executive Director

As we mark 35 years of helping families, it is gratifying to look back on recent accomplishments and program growth.

We've welcomed several new staff members this year and launched one new program. The Intensive Intervention Service extends both psychological and psychiatric consultation to referred youth probationers as well as the possibility of on-going therapeutic support. We were pleased to partner with the Ministry of Children & Youth Services to develop this new service model.

In 2009, our community celebrated the first anniversary of London's Youth Therapeutic Court, to which we contribute a staff clinician. We are honoured to be part of this multi-disciplinary team of caring professionals. We’re also starting an exciting new project with Alberta partners to strengthen protectors in children who lived with violence. We continue to receive rave reviews for our e-learning curriculum on cognitive behavioural intervention.

As we start the next year, our focus is squarely placed on maintaining the financial viability of the agency. The Centre continues to appreciate the support of our government funders: the Ministry of Children & Youth Services, the Ministry of Community & Social Services, and the Ministry of the Attorney General. Yet these are challenging days for all non-profit organizations in Canada. Like our sister agencies, we see no decline in demand and yet are faced with increases in the costs of "doing business."

You see on the cover of this year's report a photograph of our staff. I am enormously proud of our teams and the dedication with which they use highly specialized skills to serve clients. When families need help through difficult times, I know there is no more capable group of professionals to understand and meet their needs.

Linda Baker, Ph.D. C.Psych.
Executive Director

Arun Gandhi delivered the 2007 Margaret McCain lecture, reminding us that "We Must Be the Change We Wish to See in the World," a quotation from his grandfather, Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi. Pictured from left to right: Mr. Gandhi, Jack Little, Margaret Norrie McCain, and Linda Baker.