Twenty community organisations are to deliver 500 additional Early Childhood Intervention Service places and much needed early childhood intervention for children and families in Victoria.
The role of Early Childhood Intervention Services is to ensure that children with a disability or a developmental delay get the best start in life and access to vital services before they start school.
More than 1000 Victorian preschool children have been on waiting lists for early intervention services, such as, speech and occupational therapy for longer than three months, with some missing out altogether before they start school.
The peak body for early childhood intervention services ECIA (VC) welcomed today’s announcement of the additional services by the Victorian Government.
“There are now 1000 new Early Childhood Intervention Services places in the system, meaning that many families can now move off waiting lists and receive best practice support from a sustainable and high quality sector of service providers,” said Executive Officer Lauren Matthews.
“The organisations that have been announced to deliver these additional 500 places will ensure that more families across Victoria will receive a high quality Early Childhood Intervention Service, which will provide responsive supports and assist in building inclusive communities for all children.”
“Victorian early childhood intervention policy, and the service providers who implement it, are seen as the national leaders of best practice, which is why the Victorian model has been a key influencer on the development of the National Disability Insurance Scheme early childhood intervention model. We know that what we are doing here in Victoria works.”
“ECIA and our members look forward to ensuring that all young children with a disability or developmental delay can have the best start in life,” said Ms Matthews.
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