Announced: Funding to support South Australian children with developmental disability or delay
Addressing developmental delay or disability in South Australian children is at the heart of a new Government funding announcement which will see $47 million dedicated in Early Childhood and Early Intervention (ECEI) services delivered to the state.
The funding was announced by Federal Minister for Social Services Dan Tehan who says this service will be provided through the South Australian Department for Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI) from March 2018.
Minister Tehan says the ECEI services will help South Australian children with developmental delay or disability to achieve better long-term outcomes by assisting families to support children early to develop the skills they need to take part in daily activities.
“Early support gives each child the best chance of achieving their potential and providing quality services in a child’s life reduces the possible need for longer-term intervention,” Mr Tehan says.
“This is a significant outcome for children with developmental delay or disability and an important milestone in the roll out of the NDIS in South Australia as the scheme reaches full operation in the state in July this year.”
South Australian Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham says the investment will boost services for South Australian children and families.
“The Turnbull Government understand the extra hurdles children with developmental delay or disability can face,” he says.
“We’re fully funding the NDIS to ensure tens of thousands of families and children in South Australia get the support they need.
“We understand how important the earliest years of learning are for a child’s development and this investment will give more of our littlest learners access to valuable early education.”
The $47 million for ECEI services in South Australia announcement finalises NDIS partner arrangements in the state following last months announcement by Government of $72 million for the delivery of Local Area Coordination (LAC) services.
South Australian Government staff currently working in Child and Youth Services will form a Public Service Mutual, also known as an employee-led mutuals to deliver the NDIS ECEI services for South Australia in an Australian first.
The DCSI employee-led mutual will deliver across the whole state of South Australia, with service areas grouped into four ECEI service regions:
- Metro North (Northern Adelaide and Barossa Light and Lowe North service areas)
- Metro South (Southern Adelaide, Eastern Adelaide, Western Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills service areas)
- Country North (Yorke and Mid North, Eyre Western and Far North service areas
- Country South (Murray and Mallee, Limestone Coast, and Fleurieu Kangaroo Island service areas)