3. NDA Report - Assessment of Need
Part 2 of the Disability Act commenced in 2007 for children under 5
Parents of children have applied to date (up to 2011)
Little published information addressing questions, such as:
How the statutory assessment of need process operates in practice?
What contributes to the variation in how the statutory assessment of need process operates in different locations?
What are the obstacles to ensuring that more statutory assessments of need are completed within statutory timeframes?

4. Purpose of the study
To inform the operation of the statutory assessment of need process under the Disability Act 2005
Aims of study:
to describe practice and understandings of various personnel involved in the statutory assessment of need
to understand parents’ understandings, motivations and experiences of the statutory assessment of need process
The fieldwork undertaken for this report sought to address these operational, organisational and process issues. This report is not a review of the clinical practice of those who assess children as part of the statutory assessment of need process.
70+ interviews with stakeholders from 8 HSE Local Health Office areas
Interviewed personnel involved in assessment of need process
8 Assessment Officers
7 Service managers / team leads
24 Assessors (clinicians)
Interviewed 33 parents from same 8 Local Health Office Areas
Viewed anonymised sample of assessment reports

5. Findings
Parents were mostly positive about their experience of assessment of need process. Parents’ satisfaction, however, is related to whether or not their child received services or enhanced services post assessment of need
Health and education professionals are responsible for referrals to assessment of need not parents
Resource allocation or service eligibility rules of the health and education systems play a critical role in shaping the type of assessments that assessors conduct

6. Findings Language of the Act has proved challenging for clinicians
Clinicians who have developed a “comfort zone” around language of the Part 2 are likely to be:
working within integrated or coordinated service delivery structures
working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
receiving feedback and some ongoing mentoring on the requirements of the statutory assessment of need process

7. Possible conclusions at that time
Legislative requirements to underpin new policy directions in new policy context (Value for Money Policy Review)
Consider a Code of Practice
Reconfiguration of services for children and young people with disabilities
Greater alignment of all assessment processes – statutory and non statutory
Health and education sector – diagnosis should not be basis for allocation of resources

8. Possible conclusions at that time
Strategic engagement between Departments of Health and Children regarding children with disabilities in vulnerable families
Savings – encryption; software used in scoring assessments; dictation and typing admin support
Enhanced communications and feedback to assessors

9. New resource allocation in education ECCE two years AIM
What has changed since
New resource allocation in education
Not diagnosis based but is for SNA
ECCE two years
AIM
Overage exemptions
Key issue for parents
On waiting lists
Requiring assessment
Lack of information
Lack of joined up services
Inconsistencies of approach
Transitions

10. Children’s Disability Services in Ireland 2015
The report comprises:
A literature review on community disability services for children
Estimations of the number of children with disabilities who need services and the therapists needed for early intervention and school age disability teams

11. Children’s Disability Services in Ireland 2015
The data sources used were:
HRB Databases – (2012)
Census (2011)
National Disability Survey (2006)
Growing up in Ireland – 9-year old cohort (2007)
NCSE data on children with special education needs – (2012)
Limited international data on therapists per head of population

12. Children’s Disability Services in Ireland 2015
Caveats, Caveats, Caveats
2.7% to 4.1% of children aged 0-18 who need access to children’s interdisciplinary disability services
Approx. 34,000 children who need to access an interdisciplinary team
Numbers of additional therapists required (above the 2012 staffing levels)
Estimating necessary administrative, management and coordination staff part of this project

13. Transforming Lives – forecasting
Report on the Future Needs for Disability Services
Report estimates the demand for HSE-funded disability services up to 2026, by
examining both current levels of unmet need and
the impact of demographic change

14. Transforming Lives – forecasting
Based on
Increased staffing from 2012
Increased numbers of children 0 – 18
Estimated fertility and migration patterns
Provides an estimate of a shortfall of therapy posts above 2016 levels of staffing, up to 2021