1. PROMISE YearsPROMISE YearsPROMISE YearsPROMISE Years P artners R esearching O ptions to M aximize I ntegrated S ervices for E arly Y ears

2. I Hear MB Wellness Days Community Involvement School Division Early Child Committees Brandon Regional Health Centre Therapy program POTCPOTC School-Age Speech/ Language Rehab Centre for Children Technology Assessment Preschool Speech/Language Funded by ARHA and School Divisions Parent/Child Funded by Healthy Child Manitoba OT/PT Preschool/School Age Funded by Children’s Therapy Initiative and School Divisions PROMISE Years Board of Directors PROMISEPROMISE Year YearssPROMISEPROMISE Year Yearsss

3. Occupational & Physiotherapy Preschool and School-Age Program PROMISE YearsPROMISE YearsPROMISE YearsPROMISE Years

4. Successes September 05-January 06 Occupational Therapy: Total Children referred - 78 Total Children waiting - 22 Physiotherapy: Total Children referred - 55 Total Children waiting - 2 December 05-January 06 Presentation and Information Sharing: Binders provided re: referral process Children’s Special Services, Family Services and Housing Assiniboine Regional Health Authority Public Health Home Visitors Day Cares PROMISE Years 1.Services are being provided to children in the PROMISE Years region September 2005 – School age children services initiated January 2006 – Preschool children services initiated Statistics:

5. PROMISE Years 3.The ability to use previous experience and adapt policies and procedures from other PROMISE Years programs - hence, the completion of a draft policy/procedure manual PROMISE Years 4.The commitment of the PROMISE Years partners to early intervention initiatives leading to successful programming PROMISE Years - The historical success and credibility of PROMISE Years has created a willingness to expand into other program areas with confidence of the partners involved 2.Experienced professionals were hired: July 2005.5 occupational therapist Sept 2005.8 physiotherapist Jan 2006.5 occupational therapist

6. PROMISE Years 5.The strong community support to PROMISE Years 6.The OT/PT therapists have become an integral part of the school/division teams 7.A seamless transition from preschool to school-age services 8.A recognition that the partners have the best interest of children by their willingness to work outside of their defined parameters; thus, ensuring the needs of children and families are being met “Thinking outside of the box” PROMISE Years 9.Programming is directed by the PROMISE Years Board of Directors and not any one single agency. The members sit in a true partnership as representatives of their respective agencies with equal status

7. Challenges 1.Sustainability of funding 2.Size of region and travel costs 3.Amount of time required to get a new program up and running 4.Provincial expectations versus Regional realities 5.The need for CTI representation at the coalition level to witness the actions of the various coalitions leading to the development of a trusting relationship 6.The need to include all partnering agencies in communication from CTI

8. 7.For continued success of the partnership from a regional and provincial level, open discussions with input from all parties would alleviate any misunderstandings and/or impressions that are not necessarily accurate 8.Lack of input for a standardized data collection 9.Recognition of the need to follow the respective policies of partnering agencies during implementation of programs, data collection and information sharing 10.The challenge of different fiscal year ends 11.The nature of the information required for a provincial report in a program in its infancy needs to be realistic 12.Keeping a partnership vibrant, alive and motivated when under systemic pressure

9. School Division Early Child Committees Consist of : PROMISE Years PPROMISE Years Parent/Child Coordinator Day Care Public Health Children’s Special Services Home Visitors Teachers Clinicians

10. PROMISE Years Partners Fort La Bosse School Division Turtle Mountain School Division Prairie Spirit School Division Southwest Horizon School Division Assiniboine Regional Health Authority Family Services and Housing Child and Family Services of Western Manitoba Brandon Regional Health Authority - Audiology

11. Next Steps Next Steps 1.Survival of the program 2.Increasing FTE allotment to maintain an appropriate service level with quality for all children 3.Developing a process of communication between provincial and regional parties 4.Celebrating our successes