Designing a $40M Emergency Relief Fund for Residential Service Providers

DESIGN. FUND. SUSTAIN.

When COVID-19 hit, organizations providing congregate care to children, youth, and people with special needs faced immediate financial collapse. Costs were spiking. PPE was scarce. Staff were stretched. And the most vulnerable populations in Ontario were at risk.

Chris led the design and implementation of a $40M emergency relief fund - aligning funding policy and operational requirements across multiple Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services divisions, including child welfare, youth justice, special needs, and Indigenous programs. He engaged stakeholder associations directly to ensure the fund reflected real organizational needs, and worked across legal and operations to move quickly.

The result: residential service providers recovered their COVID-related costs. Vulnerable people in their care stayed safe.