Prelude AUSTRALIA
Inquiry into Thriving Kids Submission
To the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability,
I write to you as the CEO of Prelude Australia following the establishment of the Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative by the Hon Mark Butler MP.
This submission is not intended to be exhaustive but rather provide additional information following Prelude Australia’s endorsement of the Australia Child and Family Supports Alliance (ACaFSA) submission & Insights Paper, and consultation on the National Disability Services (NDS) submission.
Prelude Australia (previously Hunter Prelude) is a Not for Profit Charity established in 1981 in the Hunter Valley, NSW that currently provides Best Practice Early Childhood and Therapy Services delivered by a workforce of Early Childhood Teachers, Allied Health Professionals, Allied Health Assistants (Outcome Assistants) and Childcare Educators.
Prelude Australia supports kids from birth to twelve in the community under programs that include but are not limited to:
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
- Medicare
- Sector Capacity Building Program [Department of Education]
- Inclusive Futures Program [Grant Funded]
- Play Strong Playgroup Program [Department of Education]
- Supports funded by our Annual Women in Leadership Fundraiser to address gaps in other available funding streams
Supporting Information for the Terms of Reference:
Examine the effectiveness of current (and previous) programs and initiatives that identify children with development delay, autism or both, with mild to moderate support needs and support them and their families. This should focus on community and mainstream engagement, and include child and maternal health, primary care, allied health playgroups, early childhood education and care and schools.
Prelude Australia would like to highlight the important role of Supported Playgroups which often act as the first contact for families who have concerns about their child’s development.
Prelude Australia delivers Play Strong Playgroups in partnership with the Playgroup NSW and prior to the transition to the NDIS as funded by Ageing, Disability and Home Care.
Please see attached the Hunter Prelude Community Inclusions Playgroup Research Report 2019 that outlines the evidence base of the playgroup model when scaled and funded more broadly to enable genuine community partnership and diversity of access to services.
You can also find more information about the evidence here:
Prelude Australia Playgroups 2019
Recommendation:
That Playgroups are fully funded to enable delivery by Early Childhood Intervention providers with a workforce of Early Childhood Teachers, Allied Health Professionals, Allied Health Assistants (Outcome Assistants) and Childcare Educators.
That Playgroups are based in the community (i.e. community centres, schools etc) in collaborative partnerships with:
- Parents and people with lived experience
- State Health Services
- State Child Protection Services
- State Education Services
- Family and Domestic Violence Services
- Homelessness Services
- Family Support Services
Identify gaps in workforce support and training required to deliver Thriving Kids.
Prelude Australia would like to highlight the critical and important role of Early Childhood Teachers (ECT) that have fundamentally established, grown and contributed to the Early Childhood Intervention sector in NSW. ECTs are qualified, university trained professionals that are well placed to provide support often as Key Workers, in collaboration with the Allied Health members of the team.
In NSW, this specialised ECT workforce is primarily located in the Not for Profit Charity sector which has spent decades advocating for ECT’s unique role in Early Childhood Intervention. In addition, the Not For Profit sector has provided continuous industry based professional development in best practice and therefore created a skilled workforce with capabilities to support children with developmental delay and disability, that does not exist in the same way in the Health or Early Childhood Education and Care sectors.
Recommendation:
That ECTs are recognised for their relevant qualification, expertise and experience when designing Thriving Kids, in particularly as the government considers opportunities available funded by Medicare which currently does not accommodate for this segment of our specialised workforce.
In particular, Prelude Australia urges the federal government to work directly with the NSW government to continue and scale the existing Sector Capacity Building Program that is ECT lead within the Early Childhood Intervention sector and aims to build capacity of ECTs and Childcare Workers in the Early Childhood Education and Care sector.
Draw on domestic and international policy experience and best practice
In addition to the work of ACaFSA and notably Professionals & Researchers in Early Childhood Intervention (PRECI) from a practice perspective Prelude Australia would like to highlight the significant outcomes for children and families that are achieved when:
- Supports are delivered using the transdisciplinary (not multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary) model of service delivery otherwise described as the Key Worker model, that streamlines supports for families, prevents family burnout and utilises role release to build capacity.
- Supports are delivered in natural environments that enable a strength based and family centred approach founded on routine based intervention and works towards functional goals for functional outcomes
- Supports are delivered within the appropriate scope of practice, and collaboration is funded to support referral, connection and collaboration with a range of government, community and private services.
- Supports are provided by people that children and families trust, in places they feel safe to enable a strengthening of child protection safeguarding and a disclosures of family & domestic violence
- Supports are designed with a nationally consistent approach that allows the flexibility to find local solutions and consider the need for cultural responsiveness and equity for regional & remote communities.
- Supports are provided under the social model of disability where we assume competence and recognise the adverse impacts of a diagnostic driven, deficit based supports that fail to prioritise meaningful participation and inclusion in the community.
- Providers are registered, regulated and audited against evidence based practice standards that balance both the outcomes for children & families, and the economic return on investment for government.
- Supports are adequately funded to support best practice, workforce capacity and the long term sustainability Early childhood Intervention in Australia.
Identify mechanisms that would allow a seamless transition through mainstream systems for all children with mild to moderate support needs.
Prelude Australia would like to acknowledge the importance of Government, Not of Profit and Private sectors working together to support children and families given each has a critical role to play in the capacity and capability to deliver supports to all children.
Prelude Australia urge the federal government to shift its thinking from a linear transition from mainstream to targeted to specialised supports but rather consider the importance of a functioning ecosystem designed to safeguard universal access and equity to all children regardless of who they are, where they live or who they have in their support network.
Recommendation:
It is expected that a functioning Early Childhood Intervention ecosystem would be:
- Co-designed by key stakeholders including people and families with lived experience
- Evidence based and evidence informed by current research
- Delivered in partnership by of government, Not of Profit and Private sectors which clearly defined roles but allowing for a ‘no wrong door’ system to ensure there are no gaps to fall through and the opportunity for early intervention is not missed.
- Enables a streamlined approach to:
- Universal community based supports that do not require children to meet an eligibility criterion for access nor do children lose access following a diagnosis (e.g. playgroups).
- Screening for developmental concerns and/or children at risk of developmental concerns
- Assessment and early diagnosis where required to support evidence informed care and decision making
- Short term intervention that provided capacity building support to families and the Early Childhood Education system
- Referral to NDIS where there is evidence of permanent and significant functional support needs.
- There remains a system of individualised supports for children in conjunction with other capacity building supports for families and professionals, that include but are not limited Siblings Supports, Peer Lead Parenting Programs, Dads Programs etc.
Conclusion:
Australia has a unique and timely opportunity to transform how we support all children and families and design a functioning Early Childhood Intervention system that responds to localised community strengths and localised community needs.
Ultimately, this is an opportunity to protect the NDIS and ensure we are actively and intentionally addressing the critical issue with the current gap between Medicare and NDIS supports that is leaving families and professionals with little access to fit for purpose and community based supports.
Prelude Australia welcomes the introduction of Thriving Kids and looks forward to learning more from the Inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide additional information to government for consideration.
Please do not hesitate to contact Prelude Australia at any time.
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Kimberly Lewis
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)