“Right from the Start” Education Campaign 2010
Introduction
The “Right from the Start” campaign has been developed by ECIA (VC) to educate the community and key stakeholders on the important role of Early Childhood Intervention services so that young children with disabilities and developmental delays, and their families, can be properly supported.
Background Information
The Victorian Government provides some funding to early childhood intervention (ECI) services for children with disabilities or developmental delays and their families. Other funding comes from fees paid by parents, the Australian Government, fundraising by ECI staff, parents and friends and some private supporters. Unfortunately, in many cases, there is still a big gap between what is available and what is needed to properly support a child and family. The end result is that children are being permanently disadvantaged and their families are experiencing unnecessary levels of emotional and practical difficulty in raising their children.
Key Messages
The key messages that the campaign will deliver are grouped around themes:
- The support required for children with developmental delays and disabilities.
- The support required for families that include a child with a developmental delay or disability.
- The support required for children with developmental delays and disabilities to fully participate in early childhood programs and achieve learning outcomes.
Resources
Resources have been prepared to support the campaign as follows:
- A Fact Sheet that provides a quick overview of what ECI is and why it is important (pdf 395KB)
- Stories of the children and families that access ECI services
- Postcards to demonstrate your support of the key messages (pdf 116KB)
- An electronic petition to demonstrate your support of the key messages
- A facebook group which is open to all, for members to discuss the campaign issues and share their thoughts
What do Children and Families need?
ECIA is seeking three funding commitments from the Victorian Government:
- Our children can’t wait: 500 additional Early Childhood Intervention places to be funded in 2010/11 to reduce waiting list time;
- Families moving forward: Funding to be made available to support the family of every child (0-6) with a developmental delay or disability (emotional support, information and advice, assistance to identify and address needs, service coordination and advocacy);
- Universal education guarantee: Additional funding to provide professional support and mentoring to staff of kindergartens and childcare facilities and an increase in the availability of additional staff to enable children with developmental delays and disabilities to actively participate in high quality universal early childhood education and care.
Family Stories
The following stories are just a sample from the many hundreds of families that
access ECI services. The stories have been documented to demonstrate what it means
to be part of a family where Early Childhood Intervention services are a vital and
valued part of life.
Thanks to Libby Hartmann for writing these pieces and thanks to the families for
sharing their stories.
Family Stories
If you would like to share your experiences, you can add your comments to the “Right
from the Start” Blog which will be active throughout the month of March 2010.
Who can I contact for further information?
Early Childhood Intervention Australia (Victorian Chapter) is conducting the Right from the Start campaign and if you require any further information, our contact details are below:
Executive Officer
Early Childhood Intervention Australia (Victorian Chapter)
03 9509 5584
exec@eciavic.org.au