Vision
Mandate
Guiding Principals

Program Guide

National Expert Advisory Committee

Press Releases
Networking

VISION

The vision of the Centres of Excellence is to improve our understanding of and responsiveness to the physical and mental health needs of children and the critical factors for healthy child development.

• Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development
• Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement
• Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare
• Centre of Excellence for Children and Adolescents with Special Needs

MANDATE

The mandate of Centres is to ensure that important knowledge about children and their healthy development is broadly distributed among families, community-based organizations, educators, health professionals, non-government organizations and governments

The Centres will:

• collect and analyze health and well-being information and data;
• conduct focused research on key child and youth health and development well-being issues;
• provide policy advice to governments and child-serving agencies;
• generate information and communicate it to a wide range of audiences; and
• forge local, national, and international networks of individuals and groups involved in children's well-being.

The goal of each of the four Centres will be to produce concrete outcomes and specific products that will lead to a wider understanding of children and what they need to develop in healthy ways.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

The Centres of Excellence will be guided by the following principles:

• Centres will address the broad spectrum of child and youth determinants of health and outcomes and not specific academic issues.
• Centres will give special consideration to the unique needs of Canada's Aboriginal children, their families and communities.
• Centres will not duplicate, but rather will complement, existing and emerging federal, provincial, and territorial initiatives.
• Centres will address issues of national significance, build on existing expertise, and link community-based and academic sectors.
• As a federal contribution to the National Children`s Agenda (NCA), the Centres of Excellence Program will address the themes of the NCA and conduct its work using inter-sectoral and multi-disciplinary collaboration.
• Centres will work to ensure that important knowledge is broadly disseminated across all communities so as to effectively place this information in the hands of Canada's parents, service providers and communities.
• Centres will be supportive of activities to enhance outcome measurement and to reinforce public accountability within all relevant sectors.
• Centres will promote child and youth participation as well as citizen participation from a variety of age and population groups.

NATIONAL EXPERT ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

The National Expert Advisory Committee, the members of which were appointed by the Minister of Health, are responsible to Health Canada for assessing the performance of the four Centres of Excellence. Specifically, the NEAC is involved with the overview of the Centres' operations, approval of multi-year work plans and accompanying finances, and the examination of reports, audits and reviews.

The role of NEAC members is to provide their expertise on children's health and well-being issues, as opposed to representing the views of their home or other organizations, or the interests of a particular group or region. The principal functions of the Committee are:

Stewardship: Contributing to and advising on vision and strategic direction, providing advice for growth, and ensuring that service commitments are of a high quality.

Evaluation and Accountability: Reviewing reports submitted annually by the Centres in light of pre-agreed accountability frameworks and performance standards. Assessing the Centres' potential to fulfill program requirements based on workplans and projected spending and providing direction on achieving the five functions as set out in the Program Guide. Determining whether cost-effectiveness and value for money has been achieved over the long term.

Outreach and Ambassadorial: Scanning and monitoring the environment, soliciting input, and communicating with constituents. Promoting initiatives and contributing to their credibility and facilitating the exchange of perspectives.

Advice and Guidance: Advising on implementation and maintenance, communications and dissemination, policy linkages and strategic partnerships.

Direction: Providing leadership to NEAC Sub-Committees regarding the work of the Centres.

Assessment and Reflection: Regularly reviewing the NEAC's functions and effectiveness, as well as that of the Sub-Committees.

Selection Criteria

Selection of candidates was focused primarily on:

1. background;
2. personal skill / knowledge sets; and
3. personal commitment / capacity

PRESS RELEASES:

• November 23, 2001
  National Expert Advisory Committe on Children Announced
• October 5, 2000
  The selection of five Centres of Excellence for Children's Well-Being was announced today by the Government of Canada in Winnipeg, Ottawa, Thunder Bay and Toronto.
• February 10, 1999
  Minister Announces Expert Advisory Committee on Children