The Family Support Fund (FSF) offers financial support to Holland Bloorview families to meet their unique needs. Through the fund, clients and families may be provided with financial reimbursement for equipment, medication, recreational activities and respite services during their care journey.
Decisions are based on how the funding will affect the client’s physical safety, wellness and overall impact on the family and their financial need.
Changes to the 2024/2025 Family Support Fund application form
Starting April 1, 2024, there is a new FSF application- simply watch this short instructional video: in English also in French to learn how it works. The new application process is a better way to capture your information, reduce wait times and enable you to receive updates through email.
Reminder to applicants: Supporting clinical staff or vendors who provide the services you are seeking funding for are not responsible for the application and its outcomes.
The layout of the application is slightly different from the hard copy application from previous years, but has been modeled with all the same information points from before. You might also notice:
- Immediate confirmation upon submission
- Ability to upload document to the application page in either PDF or Word format.
- Ability to save a PDF or Word document version of the application for your records
- Faster turnaround time for decisions - reduced to approximately 4-6 weeks instead of 6-8 weeks in past years
Our goal is to communicate decisions within 4-6 weeks, however, there are several stages that take place which may impact your overall wait time.
Here's How It Works:
- Submit Your Application:
- The FSF Team will be notified that your application was submitted and you will get a submission confirmation email. Once received, an administrator will verify that all required documents and information is correct and applicable before initiating the review process. This step can take 1-3 weeks, depending on volume of incoming applications.
- Application Review:
- When all required documents are verified by the administrator and are present with the application, the estimated wait time for the review process is 1-3 weeks. Overall, from submission to decision date, applicants should expect to wait 4-6 weeks.
- KEEP IN MIND: If any documents are missing or need updating, your application will be put on hold until such time as we receive the required documentation. Our team will connect with you and support you with the completion of the application. Please note this process may result in a longer wait time that exceeds the projected 4-6 weeks.
- Decision Time:
- Once your application is reviewed, a decision notification is sent to confirm the status of the funding request and required next steps. On the decision letter, if your request was approved, you will be provided a date, approximately 3 months from the approval date. This date indicates the amount of time the Family Support Fund will hold your approved funds for you to access. If you need more than 3 months to access your funds, contact us at: fsfdoc@hollandbloorview.ca. You can also contact the team by phone at (416-425-6220 ext. 6303)
- Payment Processing and Timelines:
- Payments can only be processed upon receipt of all required documentation. If you have already included the required documentation with your application, it will be processed and sent to the finance department.
- Payments may take up to 4 weeks to reach families/vendors.
- If there is outstanding documentation (i.e. FSF team requires information from the applicant and/or vendor), this may result in a wait time longer than 4 weeks to receive payment.
We're here to support you through this process! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us.
Questions?
We have provided additional information and frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the Family Support Fund application process. Please view the following FAQs for more information.
- A client
- parent/legal guardian/caregiver,
- member of your clinical care team(individual’s applying on behalf of a client must obtain the client/family’s consent.
Note:
- This includes community care clinicians
- Clients must be under the age of 19 and have accessed clinical, OHIP-covered services at Holland Bloorview within the past two years.
Not sure which Holland Bloorview Service qualify? Click here for the list.
The eligibility criteria are as follows:
- A child under the age of 19 who is receiving clinical care and/or therapy through an OHIP-covered service from Holland Bloorview. Please note that if your child only uses fee–for-service programs such as aquatics, dental or Spiral Garden camp they cannot access the Family Support Fund. The fee for service programs are not clinical services.
- Please contact the Family Resource Centre for information on other funding options available.
- Accessing care through Holland Bloorview after the age of 19 does not automatically qualify your child for this fund.
- Installation, labour, assessment, taxes, repairs, replacement parts (e.g. batteries, slings etc), accessories, additions to existing equipment or delivery costs are not funded.
- No other home or vehicle modifications are funded except for specific accessibility equipment listed in the approved items list. Funding and items are subject to change.
- The application submission period runs from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025, or until funds run out. Should funds run out before the submission deadline, your application might be declined.
The Family Support Fund currently offers financial support for the following categories of items/services:
- Medical equipment (buying to own and rental/lease fees)
- Medication
- Recreation
- Respite
Click here for a full list of funding categories.
The amount of funding families can receive may vary based on:
The item you are applying for - did the Family Support Fund already fund the same/or like item according to the Family Support Fund policy, the fund will not approve funding for an item that has already received funds towards its over cost in a previous operating year OR in a previous application.
- For example, the same ramp cannot be requested for funding in 2023-2024 fiscal year and then again in 2024-2025.
- Level of funding requested and available
There is a maximum amount that can be requested for each category, although receiving the maximum funds is not always guaranteed. The Family Support Fund Team is likely to provide some the requested sum from your application for you to use towards the designated service or item.
When an application has been submitted, you will receive a confirmation email.
If you have saved an application to return to it later, you will receive a survey code.
For reference, survey refers to the funding application
- Please keep this code, so that, in future, you can access your application. It will look like this:
- You will receive the funding decision via email, with an estimated wait time of 4-6 weeks.
- We will also provide a “Next Steps” document for all funding decisions involving an approval.
Feel free to contact the administrative team via email at fsfdoc@hollandbloorview.ca. If the questions are very particular, please provide context and our admins will do their best to get back to you as soon as they can.
The REDcap platform is simple to use and has little to no technical flags. One message you might encounter is this:
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For unknown reasons, REDCap cannot communicate with its database server, which may be offline. Please contact your REDCap administrator to inform them of this issue immediately. If you are a REDCap administrator, then please see this additional information. We are sorry for any inconvenience.
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Instructional video
To assist with this transition, we’ve provided a step-by-step instructional video guiding you through the submission process.
Additional resources
Please read the following infographic document before submitting an application. This document covers what you can expect from the Family Support Fund process.
For those that require the service, arrangements can be made to involve the services of an interpreter. Please contact fsfdoc@hollandbloorview.ca for a request.
Application form
Please submit your application using the electronic form here (last updated April 2024):
If you have concerns about using the electronic submission form, please consider these options:
- Contact a social worker or case manager within your clinical care team.
- Connect to a Family Mentor through the "Family Mentor program" page. Family Mentors can provide tips and coaching about filling the application. They cannot do the application with / for families.
- If you have no access to clinical care team members, computer, internet or mobile device contact us at fsfdoc@hollandbloorview.ca to request a paper copy of the 2024-2025form, or call at: 416-425-6220 ext. 6303
Know the difference between a receipt and an invoice?
- A receipt is like a proof of purchase you get after buying something, showing what you bought and how much you paid. It's like a record for you.
- An invoice, is more like a request for payment before you buy something. It tells you what you're going to pay for and how much it costs. So, while a receipt comes after you pay, an invoice comes before.
See visual examples below
Example of an invoice
Example of a receipt
