OAYPA is thrilled to announce the launch of our 2024-2027 Strategic Plan. This comprehensive plan outlines our mission, vision, directions, and key actions to build a comprehensive system of prevention, early intervention, and treatment services to meet the needs of young parents, their infants, and children across Ontario. As outlined in our renewed plan, parent/family engagement is a critical priority for OAYPA and recognized as a driver of excellence. With the support of Samantha Joseph, peer mentor at the Abiona Centre, we recruited young parents from across member agencies to participate in focus groups to provide advice and feedback to ensure that our plan was grounded in real experiences and tailored to meet the needs of young families.
We are very proud of this new strategic plan; a comprehensive guide that will steer our priorities and empower us to advocate effectively with the government. Our six core values—Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Intersectionality, Young Parent/Family Engagement, Integrity & Accountability, Responsible Stewardship, and Shared Leadership and Collaboration—are the foundation and principles that drive our decision-making, strategic planning, and interactions with each other and our stakeholders. Our strategic directions and key actions are designed to address the unique challenges faced by young parents and their children, ensuring that we provide the highest quality of support and advocacy. With this plan, we are committed to making a significant impact and fostering a healthier, more equitable future for all young families in our community. This plan will help us to continue leading change to ensure timely, equitable care, early identification, and support for young parents and children at risk of poor mental health outcomes in Ontario.
This plan was developed in collaboration with our members, the young families they serve, system leaders, and government decision-makers. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all these individuals, particularly the young parents who provided valuable feedback and input that helped shape this strategic plan. A special thank you to Management Advisory Service and Mike deVries who provided invaluable strategic planning, facilitation and knowledge synthesis support. We look forward to working together with our partners and stakeholders to bring this vision to life.