More than 6,200 children and youth from the greater Kawarthas region accessed supports and therapies from Five Counties Children’s Centre in 2024.
As it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, Five Counties says it served a record number of children and youth with disabilities — 6,208 — in 2024. The total number of client visits in 2024-25 was almost 55,400, which is an increase of 2,295 visits from 2023-24.
“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,” said Five Counties CEO Scott Pepin in a statement.
Wait lists for kids’ treatment services continue to drop at Five Counties even as the number of clients served and referrals for services continue to rise, a media release noted.
Five Counties shared those details and more during its annual general meeting last Tuesday (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 County, the City of Kawartha Lakes, and in Haliburton and Northumberland counties.
Bill Eekhof, spokesperson for Five Counties, said staff contributions stand out as integral to the centre’s success in 2024.
“Five Counties is very much in the people business,” Eekhof told kawarthaNOW. “It’s our staff who work directly with children and youth and their families to provide them with the supports and resources needed to help them on their treatment journey.”
“Without their care, commitment and dedication to innovate and support clients in many different ways, we couldn’t do what we’ve been able to accomplish.”
The centre’s newly released annual report for 2024-25 provides a snapshot of what Five Counties Children’s Centre has accomplished over the past year.
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 per cent 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. Money raised by Five Counties supports hiring more staff to support 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 the kids who are clients of Five Counties receive two or more services at the centre.
While Pepin is pleased to see Five Counties making progress to reduce wait times, he noted even one child waiting for care is one too many.
“We know early intervention makes a world of difference for a child’s development,” he said. “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 said it has 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.
Five Counties also ramped up its family engagement services to better connect and improve the experiences for clients and families, including organizing new events to engage with families such as Ready for School events and the ‘All-o-ween’ accessible trick-or-treating experience.
According to Five Counties, 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.
In a survey of Five Counties staff in 2024, 98 per cent of respondents stated they were proud to work for the centre and 97 per cent of employees said their job plays an important role in making a difference for families.
“Our employees deserve all the credit for their dedication to our children and families and their commitment to innovate and meet new challenges,” Pepin said. “We’re grateful to our staff for what they do, because their care, compassion, and commitment for our children and youth are on display every day of the year.”
