Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 9 September 2024
1551. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the Access and Inclusion Mode (AIM) has been extended beyond ECCE years; the range of services which are made available within ECCE under AIM; the range of services that are now on offer for other childcare settings; and how the number of children served under each element of the programme has grown as a result of the change. [35819/24]
View answerThe goal of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in early learning and childcare.
AIM encompasses a range of both universal and targeted supports for early learning and care settings. Universal supports are designed to create a more inclusive culture in settings, through training courses and qualifications for staff. Where universal supports are not enough to meet the needs of an individual child, targeted supports are available to ensure that the child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE programme.
Universal supports:
Level 1, which aims to embed an inclusive culture in pre-school early learning and care settings, includes the national inclusion policy and guidelines, the funding of the Leadership for Inclusion (LINC) training programme, the establishment of Inclusion Co-Ordinator (INCO) roles in early learning and care settings, and a capitation payment of €2 per registered ECCE child for settings with qualified Inclusion Co-ordinators.
Level 2 provides information about AIM to parents and providers through the AIM.gov.ie website and County/City Childcare Committees (CCC).
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:
Level 4 addresses the need of Early Years Educators 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 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 to be enrolled, and fully participate, in the ECCE programme.
Level 7: Additional assistance in the pre-school room involves additional capitation for settings 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 to reduce the staff / child ratio, supporting the Lead Educator to ensure the child’s optimal participation.
AIM has now expanded beyond time spent in the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) programme for ECCE aged children. Children can now access these supports for up to an additional 3 hours per day during the ECCE term and up to 6 hours per day outside of the ECCE term (in holiday periods). All of the provision detailed above is available both in ECCE hours and outside of those hours.
The application process for these additional hours was made available on the Early Years Hive from Monday, 2 September.
Given that the application process for these supports has just opened, the change in the number of children is not available.
