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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (29 February) . . Page.. 579 ..
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION
QUESTION NUMBER 145
Children with Disabilities - Outside School Hours Programs
What after school care provisions are there for school age children with disabilities?
MR STEFANIAK - the answer to Ms McRae's question is:
1 Outside school hours care programs for primary school aged children are offered by the community and private sector usually in premises leased to them by the schools in which they operate. Most Programs are funded either by the Commonwealth or under the Commonwealth/ACT joint National Child Care Strategy Agreement. Services are provided principally for employment related child care.
2 Children with disabilities are able to access the assistance of the Commonwealth funded Integration Services to integrate them into appropriate outside school hours care programs. Outside school hours care staff are assisted by the Integration workers for a limited period of time until the child with disabilities can be integrated into the normal program. If children have exceptional needs they may require more facilities or staff time than the outside school hours care program can offer. However every effort is made to accommodate children with disabilities into these programs.
3 The ACT Government is funding some outside school hours care places for children and adolescents with disabilities through a three year pilot scheme for its employees. Three services are funded to provide priority of access to ACTPS employees who require after school and holiday care for adolescents with a disability. Total annual funding for these programs is $40,500 and it is due to finish in June 1997.
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