Family Respite Services Windsor - Essex

Family Respite Services works with 1200 families caring for children with disabilities.

Families rely on respite programs so that children with Autism, Down Syndrome, other Developmental Disabilities, Children with Medical Health Challenges, Children with Physical Disabilities and Children with Mental Health Disorders can engage in meaningful activities.

We are hoping that you can help during this upcoming holiday season with a donation box at your business?

Family Respite will provide a donation box, signage and paper ornaments.

Would you be willing to put up a tree or tape the paper ornaments on a wall? If not, customers who make a donation in the donation box can take the paper ornament home with them.

Family Respite will collect donations on a weekly basis throughout November and December.

Every dollar makes an impact, especially at this challenging time.

Donations will go directly to families who are caring for children with significant challenges in our community, can you respond to this urgent respite need?

Thanks on behalf of the children in our community.

Please connect with Alexandria Fischer 519-818-6973 info@familyrespite.org

We take the health and safety of the families and children that we serve and the staff who work for FRS very seriously.  As our community has moved into the Gray Zone/lockdown designation related to Covid-19, we will observe all safety protocols that have been recommended or mandated by the Ontario Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and our local Health Unit.

• Family Respite Services remains open to support families and children in our community.
• Our office is closed except for essential visitors.
• Please email or fax invoices and timesheets.
• Our Family Coordinators will continue to work a combined approach of working from home and in the office.  They will receive and respond to emails and phone messages from both locations.
• We continue to assist families to apply for, and administer, Special Services at Home and respite supports and recruit in home support providers.
• In home respite continues at the discretion of parents.
• All families and Direct Support Providers must complete self -assessment for any Covid-19 risk factors prior to each face-to-face meeting, always wear a mask and hand sanitize.  We ask families and Direct Support Providers to do low risk activities (e.g. walking outside) and minimize time in the car together with the child/youth and Direct Support Provider.
• Limited services continue at our staffed respite homes, with no overnight services.
• Virtual supports also continue for some children as arranged with families.
• There are no in-home visits or out of home respite at our Spago residence.
• Our community center-based supports are suspended.

Our office will be closed between December 25 and January 1, but staff will be responding to any urgent matters.

Family Respite Services supports during Covid-19 Emergency Response

The support for families through FRS is an essential service in our community. We continue to be there for you. Our Family Coordinators are working most of the time from their home with scheduled office days. The best way for families and Direct Support Providers to contact Family Coordinators is through their email, but they will also be receiving their voice mail and return your call. Our office is open for essential visits only. Our Family Coordinators are not doing home visits at this time.

Respite Supports:

Some families are scheduling their respite support and have their Direct Support Provider coming to their home or taking their child out for community outings. We ask that families and DSP go through the screening protocol suggested by Public Health prior to each visit. Reschedule if anyone has symptoms associated with Covid-19 or has had contact with someone with Covid-19. Especially with children returning to school and people having more contacts outside their home, we urge people to be cautious and vigilant. All Direct Support Providers need to wear a mask while providing support. We also urge families and Direct Support Providers to choose low risk activities such as walks in the park instead of attending activities with larger groups.

Timesheets and Invoices

We ask that Direct Support Providers and families send in timesheets or invoices through email. Send them to payroll@familyrespite.org. These can also be faxed. If it is critical that you drop off paperwork at our office there is a table inside our door for this purpose and we will get it to the right staff person.

Meeting in Person:

Our Family Coordinators will continue to primarily have contact with people by telephone or other virtual means. If there is a barrier to services that can’t be addressed by virtual support, we will arrange an in-person meeting at our office. Everyone coming into our office must wear a mask.

Supportyourway/respiteservices.com

We are screening applicants for respiteservices.com to assist families. Applicants should register on the site and someone will follow up with you to arrange a time to speak on the telephone. Any interviews will be done by computer link unless there is a substantial barrier to this process.

Weekend with Friends and the Spago Home

We are scheduling out of home respite for periods of time during the day at Weekend with Friends on Howard Ave. No children will be sleeping overnight until further notice. There is a strict protocol in place for respite at these locations.

If you have any questions call our office. We’re all in this together!