Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 September 2021
761. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total cost of AIM services; and the cost per child assisted in each of the programmes provided under AIM. [42326/21]
View answerAIM is a programme of supports to enable children with a disability to access and meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme. It includes 7 levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted. AIM supports are available through mainstream pre-school settings that are funded through the ECCE Programme.
AIM has seven levels of progressive support, moving from universal supports (levels 1-3) to targeted supports (levels 4-7), based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting they are attending.
Universal supports (Levels 1-3):
- Level 1, which aims to embed an inclusive culture in services, includes the national inclusion policy and guidelines for ECCE, the funding of the Leadership for Inclusion (LINC) training programme, the establishment of Inclusion Co-Ordinator (INCO) roles in ECCE settings, and a small increase in capitation of €2 per registered ECCE child for services with qualified Inclusion Co-ordinators.
- Level 2 involves provision of information for parents and providers on AIM, through the AIM.gov.ie website and information provided by County/City Childcare Committees.
- Level 3 recognises the requirement to continue to develop a qualified workforce that can confidently meet the needs of all children participating in the ECCE Programme. Supports include funding of training courses such as Hanen, Lámh and Sensory Processing E-Learning (SPEL).
Targeted supports (Levels 4-7):
- Level 4 addresses the needs of early learning and care practitioners to have timely access to advice and support from experts in early learning and care (and disability in particular) to assist them meet each child’s needs.
- Level 5 recognises that some children require specialised equipment, appliances, assistive technology and/or that some early learning and care settings may require minor structural alterations to ensure children with a disability can participate in the ECCE programme. Supports include grants for equipment and some minor capital building works.
- Level 6 provides access to therapeutic supports where they are critical to enable a child be enrolled, and fully participate, in the ECCE programme.
- Level 7: Additional assistance in the pre-school room involves additional capitation for service providers where an application process has demonstrated that supports at Level 1-6 have not, or will not, by themselves, meet the child’s needs. Funding can be used by the provider to buy in additional support, or reduce the staff / child ratio, supporting the pre-school leader to ensure the child’s optimal participation.
In total, 15,509 children have so far benefitted from targeted AIM supports since AIM began in 2016.
The total AIM budget for 2021 is €48m. However, in 2020, the number of approvals for additional assistance under Level 7 of AIM fell to 2,868, compared to the previous year of 4,657 due to service providers availing instead of Covid-19 financial support through the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) and we expect the expenditure in 2021 also to be lower than budgeted because of the EWSS.
AIM Level 1 spending is based on the number of INCOs, with the payment calculated on the basis of children in the ECCE programme supported by the INCO, at a rate of €2 additional capitation per child per week. Expenditure on Level 1 for the pre-school year 2020/21 was €5.6m.
AIM Level 5 expenditure on equipment and minor alterations was approximately €500,000 over the pre-school year 2020/21. During this time, 222 children were supported, with average spending per child of €2,251.
AIM Level 7 expenditure during the pre-school year was €15.8m, averaging a cost per child in relation to whom additional assistance was approved of €5,543. This figure is based on either €210 per week to enable a service to supplement their staffing by 15 hours per week, or €140 to supplement their staffing by 10 additional staff hours per week. AIM Level 7 additional capitation can also be approved on a pro rata basis where there is a clear justification for doing so (e.g. the child cannot attend the service on a full-time basis or other supports are available on a part-time basis).
Other levels of AIM, such as training for practitioners, are not calculated on a per-child basis.
