Reaching out
Making ‘ the KU Difference ’ by supporting the wider community
ISS & NISSP The Commonwealth Inclusion Support Subsidy ( ISS ) plays a key role in supporting eligible child care services to include children with ongoing high support needs in quality care . More than 8,000 child care services nationwide are eligible to apply for ISS funding when including a child with high support needs in their service .
In January KU Children ’ s Services , in partnership with Illawarra Children ’ s Services ( ICS ), commenced a staged transition process whereby 28 previous Inclusion Support Subsidy Providers from across Australia transitioned to KU as the sole National ISS Provider ( NISSP ). This was a lengthy and complex process that was completed by the end of June 2009 . From this time KU has been administering the equitable allocation of more than $ 50 million of ISS funding nationwide across the 67 Inclusion Support Agency regions . During 2009 KU and ICS assessed 10,616 applications and paid 22,278 claims .
ISA The Commonwealth Inclusion and Professional Support Program ( IPSP ) aims to promote and maintain high quality care and inclusion for all children in eligible child care services and this is done primarily through the work of Inclusion Support Agencies ( ISAs ).
Throughout 2009 KU continued to manage 7 of the 18 ISAs in NSW , supporting more than 2,200 child care services to create high quality and inclusive care environments . In 2009 KU employed 45 Inclusion Support Facilitators ( ISFs ) who responded to over 6,000 requests for support from services . In responding to these requests ISFs assisted services to develop 3,717 Service Support Plans ( 3,633 in 2008 ), complete 2,239 Inclusion Support Subsidy Applications ( 1,838 in 2008 ) and 640 Flexible Support Funding Applications ( 639 in 2008 ). The ISAs supported the inclusion of over 2,000 children from the IPSP priority groups in each six month reporting period .
Northern Sydney SCAN KU continued to manage the NSW Community Services funded Supporting Children with Additional Needs ( SCAN ) program in the Northern Sydney Network and in 2009 supported 89 preschools ( including 28 KU preschools ) and 10 occasional child care centres to ensure access to quality early childhood or vacation care , for children with additional needs .
Through Northern Sydney SCAN , KU provided unique on-site support services to community based preschools , undertaking 241 service visits and funding a total of 468 children in 80 centres . During these visits Early Learning Inclusion Consultants offered advice on creating positive social and physical environments which enhance children ’ s learning and wellbeing , and reduce the incidence of challenging behaviour .
Additionally , KU ’ s Coordinator Indigenous Programs offered training on how to create environments and curriculum that are welcoming and respectful to Aboriginal families . The program also provided a variety of professional development opportunities including a project which sponsored 29 staff members from non-KU Services to attend the KU Annual Seminar .
Consultancy Services During 2009 , KU provided consultancy services to 13 clients including Councils , corporate partners , child care providers and universities .
KU Solutions KU Solutions offers online access to a selection of policies , procedures , resource documents , forms and other information via a section of the KU website . It also offers training and consultancy visits to community based , not for profit centres . All services are provided for an affordable fee . The focus in 2009 was for KU Solutions to facilitate training to the wider community , particularly in relation to the Guiding Children ’ s Behaviour policy , and build memberships .
8 KU Children ’ s Services