The Ontario government has committed $59 million to help fund construction of the new Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent.

The province announced the funding as the project broke ground on July 29.

The new, 58,000‐square‐foot, fully accessible building will replace the existing site to provide a larger, state-of-the-art space to treat more children and youth with special needs.

The facility will house a team of professionals who provide a range of specialized rehabilitation and respite supports under one roof, including: speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, services for children and youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, audiology, respite services, Ontario Autism Program services, and coordinating care for children and youth with multiple and complex special needs.

“Building a new state-of-the-art Children’s Treatment Centre for children and youth with special needs in Chatham-Kent and surrounding communities is one more way our government is ensuring families can connect to specialized services, no matter where they live,” said Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. “We are deeply grateful for the work of the Chatham-Kent Children’s Treatment Centre Foundation’s Board of Directors and all the community advocates, organizations and local MPPs who have helped make this new facility a reality.”

The Children’s Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent currently provides services to more than 3,700 children and youth with special needs.

The total project cost for the facility is $65.9 million. The investment from the province builds on the nearly $600 million worth of recent investments the province has made to build modernized facilities at children’s treatment centres across Ontario, including planning for the new Lansdowne Children’s Centre in Brantford, construction of Grandview Kids in Ajax, construction of the 1Door4Care: CHEO Integrated Treatment Centre in Ottawa and the successful relocation of Health Sciences North Children's Treatment Centre in Sudbury.