Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative
Submission 121
Submission to Inquiry into the Thriving Kids Initiative
Background:
We are employed by a large public health organisation and work within the Community Health Children’s Service which is a large multidisciplinary and allied health team including; Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists, Dietitians and Social workers. We support children with developmental delays and their families with a focus on the preschool years, and prioritising vulnerable and complex populations to provide equity in access to care.
We are an established service within a major public health organisation, with a focus on evidence based care. We have the infrastructure to provide an expanded service with additional funding resources, and have strong links to community stakeholders such as Maternal & Child Health Nurses, kinders, schools, GPs, and community groups i.e. playgroups. Community Health services have supported children with mild to moderate delays sitting alongside and working collaboratively with ECIS in the past, and NDIS to support children with moderate to significant developmental delays. We believe Community Health can offer a valuable contribution in the planning of the Thriving Kids program. We also believe that Community Health programs, with additional resourcing, would be well placed to expand services to offer targeted and effective evidence based supports to children with developmental delays.
Key considerations:
- consultation with allied health and Community Health programs in the planning of the Thriving Kids program.
- expansion of Community Health programs to support children with developmental delay.
- clear definition of mild, moderate and significant delays/disability to support families with transparency around access to service.
- costs of living and family capacity to access/pay for allied health supports if they’re ineligible for other funded programs.
- client focussed service acknowledging that children with developmental delay benefit from and can access individualised supports rather than a ‘one size fits all’ model of service delivery.