BUSHkids 2016-17 Annual Report

CEO2

Case Study

Family facing a more certain future with BUSHkids in Bundy

The events we have attended in Bundaberg include Rainbow Day (in Child Protection week), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Day and Options Day – a day focused on promoting people in the community who have a disability. At each event we had an interactive sensory walk (adjusted for each particular day) where children were able to follow a path, walking over different surfaces – for example, smooth pebbles and rough bark, liquid in plastic (feeling the movement as they walk on the plastic) and textures such as fake grass, sand in plastic, play dough in plastic, textured fabrics and pom poms. This seemed quite a different activity and was definitely a hit with the children! As they walked we were able to interact with both them and the families, where we discussed NDIS pathways with the families and our services. We also did up some small handouts with merchandise and made small planes out of pegs which the children loved. From this we not only got our name out in the community but each day resulted in many referrals to our service. BUSHkids is the NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) partner working with families with children from birth to 6 years of age. The work that BUSHkids will be carrying out is quite diverse, ranging from working with families to developing relationships and sharing skills with other stakeholders – such as childcare centres and community groups – through to working on developing the community’s capacity and inclusiveness. To help families overcome barriers related to travel, we have established relationships with local community centres so we can work in smaller regional locations, like Gin Gin and Childers, or we can visit the family home. BUSHkids helps families choose the correct pathway for their child; this can range from referrals to mainstream services, short-term intervention by BUSHkids’ ECEI team and NDIS plan development to access assistance to meet the goals for their child’s development. We will be working with community groups to increase their awareness of the ECEI program, the importance of early intervention for families, and how everyone in the community can have a role to play. We have begun working with a family that consists of a single mother with a disability and five children, four of whom have differing levels of disability. The youngest two children were eligible for the development of an NDIS plan with the BUSHkids ECEI team. Previously the family had received some support from the State-based system and the children also received some limited therapy such as speech and language pathology and occupational therapy.

By working with the family we were able to establish realistic measurable goals in the NDIS plan and apply for funding to enable the therapists and the family to meet those goals. The family is now able to access therapies for the next 12 months to help them develop communication and gross and fine motor skills. This access to ongoing therapy will enable the children to receive consistent support in the areas identified as being delayed. This ongoing intervention will help the children to develop skills and increase their functioning in daily life – not only boosting the development of lifelong skills but also supporting their mother to build her capacity to support her children as they grow. Now that the family has funding for the therapies they are able to choose which therapists best meets their needs so they have choice and control over what will work best for the children and their family. This is a key part of the changes the NDIS is introducing to the disability sector. BUSHkids was also able to arrange for some weekly support to assist the family in the home, which has helped the children attend school on a regular daily basis so they can now interact and learn with their peers. This support was based specifically on this family’s situation as all planning takes into consideration the unique and particular needs of a family and reasonable and necessary supports. The ECEI approach includes building the capacity of the participants of the scheme which helps the family to build skills and resilience. The mother has advised BUSHkids that they are very happy with these ongoing supports and that they will help her feel more confident in parenting her family.

Members of BUSHkids Early Start team at the Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander Day, flanked by IWC LACs Alistair and Monica.

25 25