Join us for a presentation by Surrey Place, where staff will share information about the services and programs the agency provides for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The session will highlight the successes, challenges, and barriers involved in delivering support across Northwestern Ontario, while also exploring the importance of partnerships and meaningful connections, including work with Indigenous communities. Presenters will also discuss the clinical services offered and examine how these supports intersect with the justice system.
Learning Objectives:
1. Build an understanding of how Surrey Place partners with northern Indigenous communities
Participants will learn how programs like MMW, Safer Steps, and Lac Seul Clinical Team work alongside communities in the North, including how services are adapted to local culture, geography, and community priorities.
2. Share key learnings, successes, and challenges from delivering supports across diverse contexts
Participants will explore what the teams have learned through on-the-ground work—what has gone well, what has been difficult, and how these experiences have shaped program development and cultural understanding.
3. Increase awareness of how developmental services intersect with the justice system for Indigenous clients
Participants will gain insight into the unique needs of Indigenous people involved in the justice system, and how Surrey Place’s northern programs help bridge gaps, support continuity of care, and promote culturally safe approaches.
Presenters:
Jennifer Lau – Manager, Mashkikiiwininiwag Mazinaatesijigan Wichiiwewin (MMW) Clinical Videoconferencing Program
Jennifer Katherine Lau, M.S., BCBA, R.B.A. (Ont.), Registered Behaviour Analyst began her career working with children with autism in 2008. She continued to work on developing her clinical skills by working with individuals across all ages in the field of intellectual developmental disability and mental health. She has experience working as a Behaviour Therapist within the GTA, providing clinical behaviour therapy services to adults and children. Jennifer‘s concentration included client assessment, intervention, consultation, groups, education and training. Since 2016, Jennifer has been on the Mashkikiiwininiwag Mazinaatesijigan Wichiiwewin (MMW) Video Conferencing Program at Surrey Place with an emphasis on the Indigenous populations of Northwestern Ontario.
Jennifer Altosaar – Manager, Safer Steps My Way: Community Outreach for Drug and Alcohol Use
Jennifer has worked in the social services sector in Toronto for over 30 years. Her experience includes roles in case management and crisis support, as well as involvement in three provincial programs at Surrey Place: the Community Network of Specialized Care, the MMW program and Safer Steps My Way: Community Outreach for Drug and Alcohol. She currently serves as the Safer Steps manager and is part of the team developing and implementing the four-year Harm Reduction program for those with an intellectual disability funded by Health Canada. Jennifer feels honored to work alongside the community to strengthen and develop systems that better support individuals with intellectual disabilities and unique needs.
Layla Hall – Clinical Psychologist, Adults Program & Services for Partners and Organizations (SPO)
Dr. Layla Hall is a clinical psychologist registered with the college of psychologists and behaviour analysts of Ontario. She completed her doctoral training at Queen’s University. The focus of her research and clinical training has been in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Disability, and Dual Diagnosis. She is presently working as a Clinical Psychologist at Surrey Place, a provincially funded agency for children and adults with developmental disabilities. She provides counselling, assessment, and consultation services to children and adults with developmental disabilities, and their families, in the city of Toronto, as well as in Indigenous communities in Northwestern Ontario. Layla has published in the field of autism and developmental disability on topics related to mental health, intervention, criminal offending, social cognition, and genetics.
Presented by the Downtown Toronto Local Human Services and Justice Coordinating Committee on February 19, 2026.