Guidance Notes
Childcare PartnershipRegional Small Grants Scheme 2017-18
Supporting the Inclusion of Children with a Disability in Early Years/Childcare Settings
Introduction
For parents of children with a disability, finding appropriate childcare can be challenging. The reasons for this difficulty in obtaining appropriate childcare are wide ranging and often include one or more of the following:
- Inability to find a childcare provider who is able to offer the level of specialist support that the child requires;
- Lack of flexibility to accommodate childcare requirements which may change on a regular basis;
- Lack of equipment/resources to support inclusion;
- Childcare is cost prohibitive as additional care needs requires an increase in the staffing complement, employment of specialist staff, or reduces the number of children a Childminder can look after;
- Parents lack confidence to leave their child within childcare as they do not believe that it will be able to meet their particular needs.
In order to address these issues, the Childcare Partnership (CCP) is providing funding in this financial year, to enable children with a disability to access early years or childcare services. This funding is to be utilised to provide additional staffing capacity and or the purchase of equipment/resources.
Applicants can reflect the need to provide this additional service up to the end of June 2018. The maximum amount available for equipment/resourcesis £1,000.00. Staffing costs will be assessed on the basis of need.
Desired outcomes
- Families with children who have a disability are able to access early years/childcare services appropriate to their needs;
- Wherever possible, all children will be able to access the same opportunities in childcare, helping them to reach their full potential;
- A sustainable increase in the capacity of childcare providers to look after children with a range of disabilities
In seeking to define Children with a Disability, the CCP have agreed to adopt the following definition:
“... Children and young people who have a physical, sensory or learning disability or prolonged illness or condition which, in interaction with various barriers, and without the provision of adequate support services, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others and hinder their optimal potential for personal development and social inclusion.”
Before applying for this funding, organisations must ensure that they have exhausted all alternative options available. In particular, they must ensure that funding is not available as part of a Health and Social Care Trust’s statutory duty to support children with a disability.
A number of small grants will be awarded to groups that best demonstrate that they meet the following criteria:
- provide a service for children 0–12 years and is registered with the local Health and Social Care Trust;
- has a child or children with a disability attending or waiting to access their early years/childcare service;
- clearly outlines the nature of each child’s disability
- have placed the child/children and the family at the center of a care/education plan
- can demonstrate a willingness todeliver an inclusive service
- have sought and intend to utilise advice from Allied Health Professionals (Speech and Language Therapist, an Occupational Therapist, a link Social Worker from a Trust Childcare /Disability Team etc.) as appropriate to the child’s needs
- can provide and attach 2 written quotes with the application
Part A: Information about the Applicant/Organisation
No. Sessions/Rooms– if the applicant is a preschool setting and runs an AM/PM session record this as 2 sessions.
In the case of a Daycare Nursery if you have a baby room, toddler room, preschool room, and Afterschool room – record as 4 rooms.
Knowledge and Experience – indicate if staff have previous experience of providing a service to children with disabilities, have or are willing to participate in child specific training, have appropriate policies and procedures in place as listed within the DHSSPS Minimum Standards for Childminding and Day-care to support the child’s inclusion;
Involving the child and the family in the development and delivery of the child’s care/education plan - Reflect on organisational values and principles in terms of inclusion/consent partnership working. Consider the parents role as the child’s first educator. Consider how this service will translate to the home learning environment and wider community and support positive outcomes for the child and the family.
Part B: Information about the Child
This section should be copied and completed by the provider for each individual child with support from the Parent or Guardian and Allied Health Professional as appropriate to the child’s need.
In Q.3b please advise if you are in receipt of any other source of funding to support the child’s placement i.e. from the local Trust or other source
Advice from Allied Health professionals - This may include statements from a child’s parents/carers or other information/evidence that supports the application e.g. relevant references made in the Trust or ETI Inspection Report. (This information should be used to inform answers to questions. Applicants do not need to include this information with the application form)
What date will the staff member increase their hours or commence employment - In the case of having to recruit a new member of staff the applicant will need to project the start date based on previous recruitment experience.
Part C – Breakdown of Costs
In this section the applicant must firstly outline the existing staff structure and the additional staff resources needed to include the child /children referenced in part B.
Table 1: list the existing staff structure in the room session the child will be placed in
Table 2: applicants should identify if they are increasing existing staff hours or recruiting someone new to deliver the service
Location - in a Daycare this refers to the baby room, preschool room, afterschool room.In a preschool setting the location should be am or pm session. In a daycare maximum numbers apply.
Refer to section B to obtain thereference number of the particular child the staff member will care for (page 3 application form)
The number of staffing hours applied for should relate to the number of hours that the child actually attends the setting (Question 8)
Groups can also apply for additional planning time up to a maximum of 1hour per week to support the delivery of the service.
Please note this grant is a contribution towards staffing costs. The hourly rate that providers can claim has been capped by the CCP at £8.00 per hour
The period of the grant will run from 1st November to the 30 June 2018.
When calculating the cost of the service providers must include/exclude paid/unpaid holidays as appropriate and use the projected start date where the applicant is having to recruit a new member of staff.
Applicants applying for equipment/resourcesmust contact suppliers directly for 2 written quotes as this enables the organisation to negotiate a fixed price. Quotes should include a breakdown of all costs including VAT and delivery charges if appropriate.
Exemplar quotes are not acceptable CCP staff will not accept screen shots from on line websites as these costs may change on a daily basis.If the cost of the resource/equipment exceeds the limit of £1,000 applicants must confirm they are in a position to provide the match funding.
Appendix 1 - The Parental Permission Slip should be photocopied as often as requirednumbering children 1, 2, 3 as appropriate to reflect individual need and overall impact on service delivery.
Please note: Information provided by organisations to facilitate the inclusion of a child with a disability may be shared with the Local HSCT Childcare/ Disability Team as appropriate before a decision can be reached to fund their request.
If successful, applicants will be notified in writing within two weeks following assessment of applications by the Strategic Funding Panel (SFP).Detail of the award will be set out in the Letter of Offer, this will be based on the information provided in the application form. Applicants will be required to confirm their willingness to accept the offer.
Payment Process: Payments will be made to successful applicants by a BACS transfer to the group’s bank account only when the applicant confirms/ provides the following information /documentation:
the date the child commenced the placement
the start date for the new member of staff
The date existing staff will increase their hours
the groups bank account details
2 written quotes for equipment/resources
Payments will be made in two stages.
The first payment will be made on receipt of the above to cover the period from commencement of the placement to the end of March 2018.
The 2nd payment will cover the period April to June 2018 and will be made on receipt of the associated monitoring information showing expenditure to the end of March 2018.
Applicants cannot claim retrospectively for the delivery of a service (i.e. applicants cannot claim for services delivered prior to the date listed on the Letter of Offer).
Unsuccessful applicants will also be notified in writing within two weeks following assessment of applications and will be encouraged to seek feedback to inform the submission of any future applications.
Where applications received exceeds monies available applications will be scored using the criteria and weighting listed below (on page 6) and ranked in priority order.
Applicants must meet an agreed threshold to qualify for funding (the threshold will be agreed by the SFP members prior to assessment).
Scoring Framework
Part B- Scoring / Weighting- The applicant has demonstrated commitment to inclusive practice - Staff have disability specific training to meet the needs of the child, have previous experience of providing a service to children with disabilities or are willing to participate in child specific training; have appropriate policies and procedures in place (Q1)
- The applicant has demonstrated how the child/children and the family will be included in the development and delivery of any care/education plani.e. services are designed around them with their involvement and consent (Q,2)
- The child children referenced in the application form are not in receipt of funding from the local Health and Social Care Trust, Childcare Team/ Disability Team or other source (Q,3)
- The children referenced in the application form have received an official diagnosis or are going through assessment or are attending the Child Development Clinic. (Q4)
- The applicant has clearly identified how the additional staff and resources will be used to meet the child’s identified needs (Q,5,6,7)
Total Score / Maximum 50
PART C – Scoring Equipment & Resources / Eligible
Yes / No
Items requested are eligible as outlined within the guidance notes
Clarity of Costs/ Reasonableness/Rationale /Value for Money
Procurement procedures have been followed – i.e. applicants must provide and attach 2 written quotes with their application which includes a breakdown of the costs for each item of equipment
2 Written |Quotes – 2.5
Breakdown of cost – 2.5
Clear Rationale – 2.5
Value for money – 2.5 / (10)
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