Wait lists for kids’ treatment services continue to drop at Five Counties Children’s Centre, even as the number of clients served and referrals for services continue to rise.
Those are some of the highlights from the Annual Meeting that Five Counties hosted today (June 24) in Peterborough to mark its activities and achievements over the past year. The Centre provides treatment services for children with physical, developmental and communication needs in Peterborough, the
City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County and Northumberland County.
As it marks its 50th anniversary this year, Five Counties also established some records along the way in 2024/25.
“This past year has been a banner one for Five Counties in terms of caring for more kids and youth, offering more visits for families, reducing wait times for important children’s treatment services,
investing in staff, and raising more funds to help more kids,” says Scott Pepin, CEO of Five Counties.
“Our employees deserve all the credit for their dedication to our children and families and their commitment to innovate and meet new challenges.”
The Centre’s newly-released Annual Report for 2024/25 provides a snapshot of what the Centre has
accomplished over the past year. Consider:
• Five Counties served 6,208 kids/youth across the region this past year, the largest number of annual clients ever served in its history. The total number of client visits last year was almost 55,400 – an increase of 2,295 visits from 2023/24.
• The number of children waiting for services stood at 2,186 clients, as of March 31, 2025. The current wait list was lower than in 2023/24, and has seen a 15.3% reduction over the past three years. It comes as 3,506 more kids were referred to Five Counties for services over the past year.
• The Centre surpassed $2.141 million in fundraising last year, setting a new record for donations.
Monies raised by Five Counties go to hire more staff to see more kids and reduce wait times for
high-demand treatment services.
• Nearly 3,730 students received treatment services in local schools, the vast majority being for
either occupational therapy or speech therapy.
• One-third of Five Counties kids/clients receive two or more services at the Centre.
While Pepin is pleased to see Five Counties making progress to reduce wait times, he notes one child
waiting for care is one too many. “We know early intervention makes a world of difference for a child’s
development,” he notes. “That’s why we are committed to continue reducing wait times so our clients can
get the help they need when they need it.”
Over the past year, Five Counties also continued to evolve and enhance its innovative, evidence-based
services for clients and families. Its Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Pathway has expanded to better support family physicians in their autism diagnoses for pediatric patients. The Centre is introducing the FWords Framework as a more holistic approach to address a child’s and family’s unique needs and goals for treatment. Five Counties also ramped up its family engagement services to better connect and improve the experiences for clients and families at the Centre. This included organizing new events to engage with families, like Ready for School events and the ‘All-o-ween’ accessible trick-or-treating experience.
The year 2024/25 also saw Five Counties earn plaudits. In March, the Centre was selected as Not-ForProfit of the Year by the Northumberland Central Chamber of Commerce in its 2025 Business Excellence Award. In January, Five Counties also secured another three-year accreditation through CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities).
This serves as a seal of approval for kids and families as it recognized the Centre for excellence in service delivery, client satisfaction, innovative programs and community involvement.
Of its many achievements, one that particularly stands out for Pepin is the effort to be an employer of
choice. By investing more in its staff, the Centre was able to better recruit and retain employees, reflected
over the past year in low staff turnover and fewer open positions.
The Centre’s efforts were rewarded with one of the brightest statistics that Pepin notes came out over the
past year. In a survey of Five Counties staff last year, 98% of respondents state they were proud to work
for the Centre and 97% of staff feel their job plays an important role in making a difference for families.
“We’re grateful to our staff for what they do,” Pepin says, “because their care, compassion and commitment for our children and youth are on display every day of the year.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
