Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre

What Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre does

Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre (Boost CYAC) is a registered Canadian nonprofit charity operating since 1981, headquartered in Toronto with additional offices in Peterborough and a service co-location at the Children's Aid Society of Toronto. Its core function is delivering coordinated, trauma-informed response services for child abuse victims and their families under a single Child & Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC) model, integrating forensic interviews with police, medical assessments via the SCAN partnership at the Hospital for Sick Children, child protection casework, court preparation and remote testimony support, and therapy programs. Service programs include the Child & Youth Advocacy Program (CYAP), Assessment Directed Therapy for ages 4-17, the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) program, the Child Victim Witness Support Program (CVWSP), and the differentiated BARK facility dog program featuring accredited dogs (Iggy, Jersey, Aria). The organization also operates prevention education (PEP Talk Primary and Junior, Keeping Kids Safe workshops) and a trademarked trauma-informed dance therapy intervention called Sole Expression™.

Name

Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre

Legal name

Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre

Website

https://boostforkids.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Funded by the City of Toronto, Provincial and Federal Governments including Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Ministry of Children & Youth Services, Ministry of the Attorney General, Department of Justice Canada, and Ontario Trillium Foundation.
2. Individual Donations: Donations from individuals through online portal, birthday donations via ECHOAGE, car donations through Donate a Car Canada, and payroll deduction programs through employer matching.
3. Corporate Sponsorships & Partnerships: Support from corporate partners including event sponsorships for Butterfly Ball, Polar Bear Dip, program sponsorships, and Keeping Kids Safe workshops for employees.
4. Product Sales: Sale of prevention program materials, resources to prepare children for court, professional training materials, and books for parents and caregivers.
5. Event Fundraising: Annual flagship events including Butterfly Ball gala, Polar Bear Dip, Catch the Ace raffle, and community fundraisers. Tax receipts issued for eligible donations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre provides a multi-disciplinary, trauma-informed response to child abuse through its Child & Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC) model, co-locating police, child protection, medical, and mental health partners. Core services include forensic interviewing, counselling, prevention education, and specialized intervention programs (CYAP, BARK, ICE, CVWSP) for child abuse victims and their families across the Greater Toronto Area.

Product overview

Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre operates as a coordinated service hub providing integrated programs for child abuse prevention, intervention, and victim support. The core service model brings together the Child & Youth Advocacy Program, Assessment Directed Therapy, Internet Child Exploitation Program, Child Victim Witness Support, and the BARK facility dog program under one roof. Prevention offerings include PEP Talk (Primary and Junior), Keeping Kids Safe workshops, and Making A Difference training. Therapeutic interventions include the Assessment Directed Therapy Program and the Sole Expression™ dance therapy program. The organization also delivers the National CAC/CYAC Training Program via webinars and maintains an Online Learning Centre. All services are free of charge and trauma-informed.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BARK Program: Boost Accredited Reliable K9s (BARK) program provides support to children and youth through the use of Accredited Facility Dogs including Iggy, Jersey and Aria.
• Sole Expression™
• PEP Talk: Primary
• PEP Talk: Junior
• Child Victim Witness Support Program (CVWSP)
• Child & Youth Advocacy Program (CYAP)

Products and services

• Child & Youth Advocacy Program (CYAP) Coordinated, trauma-informed multi-agency response (police, child protection, medical, mental health) for children and youth who have experienced abuse, delivered through Boost's Child & Youth Advocacy Centre model.
• BARK Program (Building Attachment, Regulation, and Knowledge) Specialized intervention program for young children exhibiting sexualized behaviour, supporting the child and family with assessment and treatment.
• ICE Program Named service program within Boost's portfolio of child and youth advocacy interventions.
• Child & Youth Victims and Witnesses Support Program (CVWSP) Program supporting child and youth victims and witnesses as they navigate the criminal justice system, providing preparation, accompaniment, and advocacy.
• Prevention Education Community- and school-based prevention education programs aimed at preventing child abuse and building awareness, delivered to children, youth, parents, and community audiences.
• Professional Training and Consultation Training and consultation services delivered to social workers, educators, health professionals, and justice personnel on child abuse response, trauma-informed practice, and related topics.

Quantifiable outcome

• Children/youth prepared to testify in criminal court in 2024
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Toronto Police ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary investigative partner for child abuse cases. CYAC model brings police investigators together with child protection, medical, and mental health professionals under one roof. Joint investigations conducted at CYAC facility with grant from Attorney General of Ontario.
• The Hospital for Sick Children (SCAN Program)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedical assessments for child abuse victims provided through Specialized CASA/CYAC Network (SCAN) partnership. SickKids provides forensic medical examinations for children investigated at CYAC.
• Children's Aid Society of TorontocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-located child protection services for coordinated response to suspected child abuse. Referrals flow bidirectionally between organizations.
• Native Child & Family Services of TorontocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCulturally appropriate services for Indigenous children and families experiencing abuse. Partnership ensures culturally safe responses.
• Catholic Children's Aid Society of TorontocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChild protection referrals and coordinated services for families served by this agency.
• Radius Child & Youth ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional child and youth services partner providing additional service capacity and coordination.
• Jewish Family & ChildcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferral partner providing services within the Jewish community.
• Unity CharitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Sole Expression trauma-informed dance program. Unity Charity provides two dance instructors who co-facilitate 10-week hip-hop dance groups with Boost trauma therapist.
• Ryerson University (Now Toronto Metropolitan University)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration with Drs. Jennifer Martin and Jennifer Lapum to study whether 10-week dance program reduces trauma among youth waiting for services.
• Air CanadaminorOthersCorporate sponsor supporting organizational initiatives.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Kids Help Phone: Canada's national 24/7 e-mental health service for children and youth; comparable as a large-scale, donor- and government-funded nonprofit addressing child/youth wellbeing, abuse support, and mental health, but operating at a much broader (national, virtual) scale.
• Canadian Centre for Child Protection: National charity operating Cybertip.ca and child exploitation prevention programs; comparable as a Canadian nonprofit addressing child abuse (especially online exploitation) with government funding, training programs, and national reach that overlaps Boost's Internet Child Exploitation Program.
• National Children's Alliance (US): US accrediting body and standards body for Child Advocacy Centres; highly comparable as the structural analogue that sets standards and accredits CACs/CYACs, and which Boost's National CAC/CYAC Training Program is modeled to support across Canada.

Regional players

• Child Advocacy Centre of Waterloo Region: Ontario CAC operating outside Toronto with comparable CYAC service model (coordinated police, child protection, medical, and therapy response); directly comparable in service model but operating in a different regional catchment.

Direct peers

• Radius Child & Youth Services: Regional child and youth services partner listed as a core strategic partner; delivers comparable therapeutic and advocacy services to abused/at-risk children in Ontario, making it a close operational peer in service model and target population.
• Native Child & Family Services of Toronto: Indigenous-focused child welfare agency partnered with Boost; comparable as a Toronto-based nonprofit delivering culturally adapted child protection and family support services to abused/vulnerable children.
• Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto: Toronto-area child protection society and core referral partner; comparable as a nonprofit delivering child welfare, protection, and family support services to abused children in the same regional footprint.
• Children's Aid Society of Toronto: Toronto's largest child protection agency and a co-located CYAC partner; directly comparable as a child welfare nonprofit delivering coordinated protection, advocacy, and referral services to abused children in the same geography and overlapping service model.
• Jewish Family & Child: Toronto-based child welfare and family services nonprofit and core referral partner; comparable as a community-embedded nonprofit delivering child protection, family counseling, and advocacy services to vulnerable children in the same geography.

Emerging players

• Zareinu Educational Centre: Toronto-area nonprofit serving children with developmental, emotional, and trauma-related needs including abuse victims; comparable as a smaller regional peer offering therapeutic and educational support to vulnerable children.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/boostforkids
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/BOOSTforkids
• Facebookfacebook.com/BoostforKids
• Instagraminstagram.com/boostforkids

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre