The overhaul of Ontario’s autism program will now be completed in 2021 — news that surprised parents of autistic children who had expected the changes to be implemented by April 2020 as previously promised.

A few parents who came to Queen’s Park for the announcement by Children, Community and Social Services Minister Todd Smith cried at the new timeline, saying they had waited long enough.

“He pretty much extended this whole thing for another full extra year, and we have already been waiting for 18 months,” said a teary Faith Munoz, mother of a 7-year-old with autism.

“... We are in crisis. We are desperate for help from this government, and they are giving us nothing. This is a very sour Christmas for our families.”

When fully implemented, the government’s plan will provide families with funding for behavioural therapies, occupational and speech therapy, as well as mental health help and urgent care for those in crisis, as recommended by an expert panel it struck earlier this year.

While the province had previously said the full program would be effective by April 2020, Smith said Tuesday that all that will be in place by then are workshops and training for families.

“We’re taking the time to ensure that we get this right,” Smith said.

“We are moving as quickly as we possibly can to make sure the services are there for their kids,” he also said of the new, needs-based program that replaces the Ford government’s original, controversial changes that allocated funding based on a child’s age or family income.

Until the new plan is in place, the government will provide more than 20,000 families currently on wait lists with one-time funding of $5,000 or $20,000 — depending on the child’s age — to help them afford services.

Smith also announced that a new, 13-member implementation committee will help his ministry put the new plan into place.

“I understand the need to get it right, but how many times are we supposed to give him extra time to get it right?” said Laura Kirby-McIntosh, who heads the Ontario Autism Coalition.

“These parents have been to hell and back multiple times. Why not take the money that they’re throwing out the door in cheques and use it to hire the staff they need to get the program ready on the date that they promised us?”

In late October, Kirby-McIntosh was part of a provincially appointed expert panel looking at how to revamp Ontario’s controversial changes to the autism program recommended the government ensure students get the services they need without lengthy wait times, regardless of their age.

The province’s original changes, under former social services minister Lisa MacLeod, provided childhood budgets based on a family’s income and limits based on a child’s age, which the government later scrapped.

The panel, however, recommended that some limits be put in place so the government can remain within the $600 million in annual funding — which is double what the previous Liberal government was spending. Smith said those details will be up to the implementation committee.

The government has come under considerable criticism for its handling of the autism file, with massive protests by families including one last March at Queen’s Park.

Kirby-McIntosh said another is planned for Feb. 18 when the house resumes.

She slammed the new timeline — she was “flabbergasted” by the delay — and said the one-time transition funding won’t help families, especially in the North where there are so few services.

“Families will simply deposit the cheques, and perhaps buy some computer equipment that may or may not have therapeutic value for their child. If they can purchase services, they will spend most of their money paying for the travel expenses of their child’s service provider,” she added.

New Democrat Monique Taylor, her party’s children and youth services critic, blamed Premier Doug Ford, saying that “because of his cuts, autism workers have been fired and services are almost impossible to access for so many families — especially those in northern and rural communities.”

Now, she added, “Ford is breaking yet another promise and dashing hopes by delaying the start of the new Ontario Autism Program by yet another full year. Interim funding that’s not needs based and falls well short of what’s needed just doesn’t cut it, especially when it’s harder than ever to find services.”

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Liberal MPP Michael Coteau, who revamped the autism program as a cabinet minister in the Wynne government, called Tuesday’s announcement “another betrayal” by the Ford government.

“Families are sick of this entire situation, and so am I.”

Smith announced that the new autism program will focus on four areas: core services such as behavioural and speech therapies, foundational family services to train and support parents, early intervention and school preparation services, as well as an urgent care service to help families in crisis or who have severe needs.