‘Supporting Access to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme for Children with a Disability’ – IDG Report published
A major new programme aimed at providing supports to children with disabilities in free pre-school has been launched today by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Dr James Reilly, along with the Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan and Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State from the Department of Health whose responsibilities include the area of disability.
In Budget 2016 Minister Reilly announced that he had secured €17 million to
establish a new programme for next year. In the region of 7,500 children
are expected to benefit from the new model of support in a full year. The
new programme will deliver truly inclusive care and education for children
in a workable and sustainable manner with early years providers.
Today Minister Reilly and his colleagues set out the new model of
Government-funded supports to enable children with disabilities fully
participate in free pre-school in mainstream settings alongside their
peers.
The new model was developed on foot of extensive consultation, across
Government Departments and Agencies, as well as, most importantly, the
parents of children with disabilities; the InterDepartmental Group drew on
national and international evidence and experience to develop the model of
support.
Critically – as many children don’t have a formal diagnosis when they start
pre-school – the seven level programme doesn’t rely on diagnosis, but
focuses on children’s developmental level, their abilities and their needs.
This is a model of support that is built up around the needs and abilities
of each child, and their parents. Disability is obviously a broad spectrum,
with different levels of complexity. The seven levels of supports range
from universal supports to highly targeted ones based on the needs of the
individual child.
Speaking at the launch Minister Reilly said: “The publication of this
Report, and the funding to implement it announced in Budget 2016,
demonstrates the Government’s commitment to giving all children the best
start in life. It is a real and tangible example of joined up government –
working together to ensure that children with disabilities can benefit
fully from the significant expansion of Free Pre-School from September
2016. This investment forms a key element of the Budget 2016 childcare
package, which increased public funding by a third – demonstrating the
Government’s commitment to ensuring the benefits of our hard won economic
recovery are felt by all families in their everyday lives.”
The model of supports launched today include: enhanced continuing
professional development for early years practitioners; grants for
equipment, appliances and minor alterations, increased capitation for
certain complex cases, as well as access to therapeutic intervention. A
Cross-Sectoral Implementation Group has been established to oversee
implementation, and to monitor and review progress as the new model is
embedded across the system, to develop a pre-school sector that is truly
inclusive.
Also speaking at today’s launch, Minister O’Sullivan said:
‘Embracing diversity in pre-schools will improve outcomes for all
children. I believe that this Report will help to provide a welcoming
environment in our pre-schools, where all our children can access an
inclusive educational experience at this important stage. I have been very
pleased to collaborate fully with my colleagues in Government so that
joined-up services for children with a disability can be provided through
the implementation of the recommendations of this Report.’
Echoing Ministers Reilly and O’Sullivan, Minister Lynch said:
I am very pleased to join with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs
and the Minister for Education and Skills at the launch of this Report. The
new model will enable children with a disability to benefit fully alongside
their peers from high quality early years education. I look forward to the
three Departments and their sectors working collaboratively on the Report’s
implementation”
Note for Editors:
The model of supports, which was prioritised for funding as part of Budget
2016, will cost approximately €17m in 2016 rising to €40m annually from
2020 to implement.
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Summary of Support Levels:
1. An Inclusive Culture - Considered to be the critical foundation for
the model, it sets out a strong culture of inclusion to be fostered and
embedded in the delivery system. Development of a national inclusion
policy for ECCE settings with the identification of Inclusion
Co-ordinators together with funding being made available for training are
among the recommendations being put forward.
2. Information for Parents and Providers - Recognising the requirement
by all for clear and consistent information, the development of a
national website linked to relevant children’s services are among the
recommendations being put forward.
3. A Qualified and Confident Workforce - Recognising the need to
continue to develop a qualified workforce that can confidently meet
requirements in this area, one of the key recommendations made is to
continue to raise the minimum qualification for employment in the sector
to include training of a formal and informal nature.
4. Expert Education Advice and Support - The recommendation is to
enhance the existing Early Years Specialist Service, established in 2014,
so that early years practitioners can have timely access to the required
advice and support on a national basis.
5. Equipment Appliances and Minor Alterations Capital Grant -
Recognising the need by some children for enhanced equipment and
appliances and that some service providers may need to make particular
provision on their premises, the recommendation is for a provision of
annual funding for this with the establishment of a minor alterations
capital grants programme together with the development of an application
process.
6. Therapeutic Intervention - Further enhancement of the HSE Therapy
Services, (50 posts) is the recommendation which will support full
participation for those children who need this support with priority
being given to this sector.
7. Additional Assistance in the Pre-school - The recommendation of an
additional capitation fee to some service providers recognises that for a
small number of children (1.0% -1.5% ) they will need additional
resources in the preschool setting, outside of levels 1-6, in order to
ensure the child’s optimal participation.