Special Needs Resourcing Supports

Agencies providing inclusion resource services

Bethesda Community Services, Niagara Children's Centre and Pathstone Mental Health provide inclusion resource services.

Inclusion quality coordinators are employed by Bethesda Community Services and Niagara Children's Centre. Pathstone Mental Health provides behaviour consultant support as part of the model.

• Community pedagogical advisors

  Community pedagogical advisors employed by Niagara Region. Their role is to:

  • Build relationships with educators, inclusion quality coordinators and site supervisors
  • Act as a resource to child care centres in implementing and improving quality
  • Support child care centres with their professional learning needs and tailor supports to meet these needs
  • Support alignment with How Does Learning Happen? Framework
• Inclusion quality coordinators

  Inclusion quality coordinators will provide support in Niagara to licensed child care centres, licensed home child care and EarlyON locations. Their role is to:

  • Model strategies for educators in the classroom
  • Provide support with strategies to build an inclusive and high-quality classroom environment
  • Help to identify and support children who could benefit from individualized supports
  • Develop individual support plans, goal plans and monitor progress for children referred to Tier 2/3 support
  • Invite other practitioners into the classroom to support strategy and goal creation when needed
• Behaviour consultants

  Behaviour consultants employed by Pathstone will continue to support children, families and educators in the Inclusion Resource Service Model. They work with inclusion quality coordinators to:

  • Build strategies that help replace challenging behaviour with appropriate skills
  • Support classrooms to promote social-emotional well-being
  • Help educators and families understand what a child's behaviour may be communicating
  • Set positive goals and use strategies that support inclusion and well-being

Tier 2/3 referral process

As part of Tier 1 support, inclusion quality coordinators may observe children within the program to help determine suitability for Tier 2/3 services.

Inclusion quality coordinators will work alongside educators to suggest, model and support the implementation of Tier 1 strategies within the program.

If the inclusion quality coordinator and educators determine that a child may benefit from Tier 2 or Tier 3 support, the child's parent / caregiver will be contacted to discuss the referral process. Parent / caregiver consent is required before any Tier 2 or Tier 3 services can begin. Once consent is obtained, the referral process will start and next steps will be reviewed with the family.

Short-term support funding

All Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care enrolled licensed child care agencies with program sites in Niagara can access and receive special needs resource services funded by Niagara Region.

This funding is for temporarily hiring additional non-ratio child care educators to help permanent staff implement recommendations from the inclusion quality coordinator and / or behaviour consultant. The goal is to support inclusion for children with special needs. This is not one-to-one support and does not count toward staffing ratios.

Funding is approved in 14-week increments.

Once approved for funding, centres must ensure:

• Hours are only used as needed to support the safety of the child and others
• Educators review their environment, schedule and program to ensure inclusive practices
• All educators will work with the child to ensure the child is integrated into all areas of the program. This is not a one-to-one support funding arrangement.
• Once the improvements are seen, the centre should consider reducing support time. This decision should reflect the child's progress based on input from the inclusion quality coordinator or behaviour consultant and educators. It should also ensure the child remains safe.

• When to apply for short-term specialized support funding

  Children 0-13 years of age may be eligible for short-term specialized support funding in a child care centre if they meet the following criteria.

  This child care centre:

  • Has reviewed the funding policy
  • Has an agreement with Niagara Region Children's Services
  • Has used and exhausted all internal and community supports, including training to build internal capacity and to address the needs of the child on an ongoing basis
  • Is compliant with any additional service agreement requirements with Niagara Region

  The child must be:

  • On an inclusion quality coordinator caseload and the consultant is available to visit the centre at least weekly to support the classroom educators, unless otherwise approved
  • Enrolled in the program for at least 20 days before funding is requested, unless otherwise approved
• Exhausting community supports

  Using and exhausting community supports means that you have:

  • Conducted a comprehensive environmental assessment, for example ITERS-3, ECERS-3, SACERS
  • Administered the Caregiver Interaction Scale
  • Collaborated with community partners / therapists to explore additional strategies, such as a child's SLP / OT
  • Consistently implemented recommended inclusion quality coordinator and behaviour consultant strategies
  • Attended relevant professional learning opportunities
• Funding considerations

  If the child requiring support is 0 to five years of age (or turning six between Jan. 1 and June 30), the child care centre must use their Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care allocation to fund additional staff, if funding is available within the centre's budget. Centres are advised to review their cost-based allocations internally.

  If the child care centre deems they do not have available funds in their allocation to cover the costs of additional staff, an application for short-term support funding can be submitted.

  When approved for short-term specialized support funding, you will need to submit invoices that demonstrate how funding is being used in your program. Watch how to complete an invoice for short-term specialized support funding.

• Application procedure
  1. The child care centre supervisor, in partnership with the inclusion quality coordinator, will complete the application form. The application form must be submitted at least five business days before the required start date, wherever possible.
  2. If funding is approved, the community pedagogical advisor will email the approval document to the child care centre supervisor and inclusion quality coordinator
  3. Should the licensed child care centre need to apply for continued support after the initial fourteen weeks, the short-term specialized funding renewal application must be completed by the deadline outlined in the funding approval
  4. Online or in-person meetings to discuss the need for ongoing support may be required by the community pedagogical advisor

  Funded hours of support are based on the child's actual attended hours and days only. Payment will be based on child attendance. Support will not be paid when the child is absent or if the child attended but no support was available.

  The child care centre is responsible for sending an invoice with a record of the child's attendance no later than the fifteenth day of the following month. The invoice must be emailed to csreferrals@niagararegion.ca to be processed for compensation.

• Appeals

  Parents and / or licensed child care centres have the right to appeal funding decisions.

  Appeals process

  1. The child care centre will email the service system performance management advisor via csreferrals@niagararegion.ca that they and / or the parent wish to appeal the funding decision to reduce or terminate funding
  2. Within five business days of receiving the email, a case conference will be held with the parent, child care centre, representative(s) of the inclusion quality coordinator agency, community pedagogical and quality program manager and any other agencies providing support to the child as deemed necessary to discuss the situation
  3. Alternate supports will be discussed during the case conference to determine any and all other possible funding that may be accessed or other support options within the child care operation

  Should no alternatives be available, the appeal will be forwarded to the Child Services Community Strategies manager to determine if ongoing funding is approved.

Apply for short-term specialized support funding

Renew your funding

To renew your funding, complete the short-term specialized support funding renewal form.

Child Care / Assistance

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