{ "dataset": "Ontario autism FOI request docket", "description": "First-party freedom-of-information request registry: subject, statute, records sought, filing date, statutory deadline, and outcome for each request filed by End The Wait Ontario.", "publisher": "End The Wait Ontario", "publisherUrl": "https://www.endthewaitontario.com", "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "sourceOfTruth": "lib/data/foi-docket.ts", "statsSsotLastVerified": "2026-08-10", "dataAsOf": "2026-08-08", "requests": [ { "id": "FOI-01", "subject": "Which registration cohort is currently being invited", "addressee": "Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services / AccessOAP", "statute": "FIPPA", "records": [ "The number of Core Clinical Services invitations issued per month, from January 2024 to the date of this request.", "For each month, a breakdown of those invitations by the registration-date cohort of the family invited (by registration month and year).", "Any internal document describing the order or criteria by which invitations are issued." ], "whyItMatters": "Registration date is the single thing families are told determines their place in line, and Ontario does not publish which registration cohort is currently being invited. Families track it themselves by comparing notes in Facebook groups. That is not a reasonable substitute for a published number.", "inTheMeantime": "Our processing snapshot uses community reports and labels them as such. It is not government data and we do not present it as a forecast.", "relatedPath": "/tools/oap-tracker", "status": "drafted", "filedDate": null, "responseDueDate": null }, { "id": "FOI-02", "subject": "How the Determination of Needs sets a funding amount", "addressee": "Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services", "statute": "FIPPA", "records": [ "The Determination of Needs scoring tool or rubric used to assess children for Core Clinical Services funding.", "The weighting applied to each assessed domain.", "Any table or formula mapping assessed support-need levels to funding amounts or funding bands.", "Guidance, training material, or written direction issued to care coordinators on completing a Determination of Needs." ], "whyItMatters": "A family can be assessed, receive an amount, be reassessed the following year and receive far less, without ever being shown how the number was produced. The Information and Privacy Commissioner has already considered access to Ontario autism assessment material in Order PO-4494. We are asking again, and specifically for the scoring and weighting.", "inTheMeantime": "Our investigation into the scoring tool sets out what is known and what has been withheld to date.", "relatedPath": "/scored-in-the-dark", "status": "drafted", "filedDate": null, "responseDueDate": null }, { "id": "FOI-03", "subject": "Special Services at Home wait times by region", "addressee": "Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services", "statute": "FIPPA", "records": [ "For each ministry region, by fiscal year from 2021-22 to present: the number of Special Services at Home applications received, approved, and funded.", "For each region and fiscal year, the median and maximum number of days between application and first payment.", "Any written criteria used to prioritise SSAH applications where demand exceeds available funding." ], "whyItMatters": "SSAH is a second waiting list that gets far less attention than the Ontario Autism Program, and unlike OAP it is not first-come-first-served. Families are told higher needs are served sooner, without a published definition of how that is decided or how long any of it takes.", "inTheMeantime": "We publish no SSAH wait-time figure, because there is no defensible one to publish.", "relatedPath": "/ssah-guide-ontario", "status": "drafted", "filedDate": null, "responseDueDate": null }, { "id": "FOI-04", "subject": "Whether funding reviews and appeals change anything", "addressee": "Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services", "statute": "FIPPA", "records": [ "The number of reviews, reconsiderations, or appeals of Ontario Autism Program funding determinations received per fiscal year from 2021-22 to present.", "The outcome of each, grouped by category (amount increased, amount unchanged, amount decreased, assessment redone, withdrawn).", "The median elapsed time from request to decision.", "The name and terms of reference of the body or role that conducts these reviews." ], "whyItMatters": "Families are advised by other families that a review only examines whether the process was followed, not whether the amount was right. We have not been able to confirm that from any published source, and we have not been able to confirm what the reviewing body is formally called. Both should be a matter of public record.", "inTheMeantime": "Our appeal guidance describes the internal review route and says plainly where the published record runs out.", "relatedPath": "/oap-appeal-process-ontario", "status": "drafted", "filedDate": null, "responseDueDate": null }, { "id": "FOI-05", "subject": "Modified school days and parent-supplied location devices", "addressee": "Ontario district school boards (multi-board request)", "statute": "MFIPPA", "records": [ "Any written policy, procedure, or administrative guideline governing parent-supplied GPS or wearable location devices worn by a student during the school day.", "Any written policy or procedure governing modified, reduced, or partial school days for students with disabilities, including who must authorise one.", "The number of students on a modified or reduced school day in each of the last three school years, and the number of those students who have an Individual Education Plan." ], "whyItMatters": "Two of the most common and most distressing school questions parents raise have no province-wide published answer: whether a child may wear a locating device, and how many children are being sent home early. Boards answer both differently, and families discover the rule only when it is applied to them.", "inTheMeantime": "Our guidance sets out the privacy grounds boards typically rely on and how to make the request in writing. It does not claim to know any individual board’s policy.", "relatedPath": "/education/school-tracker-policy", "status": "drafted", "filedDate": null, "responseDueDate": null }, { "id": "FOI-06", "subject": "Children who aged out without ever receiving funding", "addressee": "Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services", "statute": "FIPPA", "records": [ "The number of individuals who exited the Ontario Autism Program on reaching age 18, per fiscal year from 2019-20 to present.", "Of those, the number who never entered into a core funding agreement at any point while registered.", "The median length of time those individuals were registered before exiting." ], "whyItMatters": "A child who registers at four and turns eighteen without ever being invited has been counted as registered for fourteen years and served for none of them. Ontario reports how many children are registered and how many are funded. It does not report how many ran out of childhood while waiting.", "inTheMeantime": "We publish no figure for this. Our aging-out guidance covers what happens at 18 and what adult supports exist, without estimating how many never received funding.", "relatedPath": "/aging-out-oap-ontario", "status": "drafted", "filedDate": null, "responseDueDate": null } ], "sources": [ { "id": "fippa-act", "title": "Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31", "type": "ontario-government", "tier": "tier-1", "url": "https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90f31", "publisher": "Government of Ontario", "notes": "Governs access requests to provincial ministries, including MCCSS." }, { "id": "mfippa-act", "title": "Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56", "type": "ontario-government", "tier": "tier-1", "url": "https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90m56", "publisher": "Government of Ontario", "notes": "Governs access requests to district school boards." }, { "id": "ipc-access-guide", "title": "How to Make an Access Request", "type": "ontario-government", "tier": "tier-1", "url": "https://www.ipc.on.ca/en/resources/information-individuals/access-and-correction-rights", "publisher": "Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario", "notes": "Procedure, fees, and appeal rights for access requests in Ontario." }, { "id": "ipc-po-4494-docket", "title": "Order PO-4494 (Appeal PA22-00391)", "type": "ontario-government", "tier": "tier-1", "url": "https://decisions.ipc.on.ca/ipc-cipvp/orders/en/item/521604/index.do", "publisher": "Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario", "publicationDate": "2024-03-04", "notes": "Prior IPC order relevant to access to Ontario autism assessment material." } ], "docketLastUpdated": "2026-08-08", "statusIntegrity": "Status is factual: \"drafted\" requests have not been filed. Do not report drafted requests as filed." }