Ontario’s Intensive Treatment Pathway (OITP) is a bold and unprecedented opportunity to transform intensive mental health services for children and youth with complex needs and behavioural risks. Central to its vision is the implementation and scaling of a common provincial model - an effort that requires not only evidence-informed practice but also practical strategies for system-wide adoption and sustainability.

This presentation will draw on nearly four decades of experience developing, implementing, and scaling the Stop Now And Plan (SNAP) model - an evidence-based children’s mental health (CMH) and crime prevention program that has been successfully expanded across Canada, the United States, Europe, and the Cayman Islands. Through the SNAP National Expansion initiative, we learned first-hand the challenges and opportunities of taking an innovative model from research to broad implementation in diverse communities.

Key themes will include:

• Building an evidence-based CMH and crime prevention program using a scientist-practitioner framework
• The critical ingredients of scaling: fidelity, flexibility, and partnership
• How to gain community buy-in and build a community of practice
• Cross-sector collaboration and implementation: opportunities and challenges
• Strategic partnerships and venture philanthropy as a unique framework for growth
• Ensuring equity of access through intentional design and community engagement
• Creating the infrastructure - training, coaching, monitoring, and knowledge exchange - needed for sustainable change

By reflecting on both successes and challenges, this session will provide practical insights on how Ontario can leverage OITP to close long-standing treatment gaps, improve outcomes for children and families, and optimize investments across sectors. Participants will leave with concrete lessons and strategies to support the development of a provincially guided, regionally delivered, and connected intensive treatment pathway.

The story of SNAP demonstrates that with vision, persistence, and collaboration, system transformation is not only possible - but it can also change the life trajectories of our most vulnerable children and youth.