VISION

Regardless of the socio-economic status of his/her family and community, every child has the right to childhood experiences which promote the chances of developing into a healthy, well-adjusted and productive adult.

The City's Strategy For Children

The City's Children's Strategy is based on the belief that society shares with families responsibility for their children and therefore that efforts to improve children's well-being are legitimately part of the City's public service agenda. It is also generally well recognized that all families will likely require some measure of public support during their children's developmental years.  The City's Children's Strategy recognizes that a universal albeit scaled municipal response to this need is required.

The key components of Toronto's Children's Strategy may be summarized as follows:

1. The City demands a holistic as opposed to a sectoral or program response to issues affecting children's well-being.
   
   
2. The City sets aggressive but achievable annual benchmarks to secure progress towards desired outcomes for children.
   
   
3. The City demonstrates public accountability for improvement in children's well-being by publishing an annual report card on the state of this City's children.
   
   
4. The City promotes both equity of access and responsive service approaches to children through integrated service planning at the neighborhood level.
   
   
5. The City's plans and investments in children are actively informed and supported by the most current theory and research.
   
   
6. The City promotes innovation and aggressively pursues improvements in policy and programs based on best practices.
   
   
7. The City uses its influence and resource base to broaden commitment for a children's agenda and lever contribution from other government and community partners.
   
   
8. The City builds and strengthens local community partnerships and negotiates the fullest and most prudent use of shared community resources.
   
   
9. The City actively focuses media attention on children's issues and advocates publicly for needed change.
   
   
10. The City highlights and celebrates achievements in the children's services field and uses each incremental success to help achieve its broader vision for children.

Adopted by Toronto City Council, November 1999.