Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018
1129. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the funding available for the access inclusion model for pre-school children with special needs over the past five years; the number of children accessing the model; the number of SNAs directly employed through the model; the cost per child budgeted for in the service model in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24447/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a programme of supports to enable children with a disability to access and fully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. It was introduced in June 2016 and is administered by Pobal on behalf of my Department. AIM is a child-centred model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting.
AIM expenditure amounted to €7m in 2016, its first year. An amount of €22.2m was spent on AIM in 2017 and funding of €25m has been provided for AIM in 2018.
Since its introduction, the universal elements of AIM have benefitted a large proportion of children in the ECCE programme, both those with disabilities and those without, through training and support to ECCE settings in the provision of inclusive early years care and education.
Targeted supports directly benefit children with disabilities and may also benefit children without additional needs, for example, where the adult-to-child ratio in the pre-school room is reduced. In its first year targeted AIM supports were accessed by 2,486 children (accounting for 4,760 different supports), to ensure that they could fully participate in the ECCE programme. In the second year of AIM from September 2017 to date, targeted AIM supports have been accessed by 3,838 children (accounting for 6,230 different supports), to ensure that they can fully participate in the ECCE programme.
Level 7 of AIM provides additional assistance in the pre-school room where this is critical to ensuring a child's participation in the ECCE Programme. In line with emerging best practice to support the integration and independence of children with a disability, AIM does not fund Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) or equivalent staff. Rather, it provides financial support to the pre-school provider which the provider may use either to reduce the adult-to-child ratio in the pre-school room by reducing the number of children in the room or to buy in additional assistance to the pre-school room. Neither Pobal nor my Department has a direct role in the recruitment of staff for pre-schools, which are operated independently by either private or not-for-profit entities.
AIM is not budgeted on a cost-per-child basis, as it combines both universal and targeted supports, and for many children with special needs the universal supports offered under the model will be sufficient. For others, one particular discrete support may be required to enable participation in the ECCE Programme, such as access to a piece of specialised equipment. For a small number, a suite of different services and supports may be necessary. In other words, the model is designed to be responsive to the needs of each individual child in the context of their pre-school setting.
