Kids Are Kids Therapy and Education Centre was formed by a group of four professionals working in the area of disability, Margaret Orr, Wayne Revitt, Mai Keane and Bron Williams. The idea was conceived in 1996 with the organisation becoming officially incorporated in 1997 and operational at the old Bateman Child Health Centre in late 1998. Services then moved to the old Bateman pre-primary centre in 2000.
Why was the organisation formed?
To provide a choice
At the time Kids Are Kids! was founded there were limited choices available for families that had children with difficulties and disabilities. The organisation was formed to give families a choice in the service they could receive.
To provide access to quality services at the lowest possible cost
It was established as a non-profit organisation so that the cost of services could be kept to a minimum through sourcing of government and community grants. The founders recognised that often the cost of services for children who have long term needs can be significant and that there also needed to be an alternative to private therapy agencies. For these reasons the organisation seeks funding from other government and non government sources to fully or partially fund the cost of services.
To provide an inclusive service
Historically it was observed that many agencies had very specific entry criteria families had to meet to be able to access services. Kids Are Kids! wanted to ensure that ANY child with any learning or social difficulties and/or disability could access quality services.
To provide families with access to holistic therapy services
It was recognised that often children with difficulty in one area present with difficulties in other areas. This means that families have to go to several different places to receive their therapy. By providing speech pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology and educational consultancy services in the one place, families can receive a co-ordinated approach to their child’s intervention.
Kids Are Kids! now and into the future
Over the years, Kids Are Kids! has been fortunate enough to attract over 15 staff who have experience working with children who have a range of needs. We also have many volunteers and families that work with us in various ways – to assist with the running of group programs, making resources and assisting with jobs around the centre. It is through this sense of community, that Kids Are Kids! owes its success.
In the future we hope to continue to be a service that provides information for families and those working with children, who have additional needs, in a way that is meaningful for all. We also hope to be able to be a service that is responsive to the needs of individual families and the community in large.
What
is Family Centred Practice?
Kids Are Kids! Therapy and Education Centre has adopted a model of Family Centred Practice.
Family Centred Approach
This approach recognises the expertise of the family who knows their child’s needs the best. Families and therapists work together to set goals based on the families objectives. Therapists may assist families to break the goals they have into smaller achievable steps in order to achieve their larger goals. Therapy may be provided in many settings including the home, day care, school, community settings, as well as within the centre context.
As part of this approach, parents and therapists are partners and both have responsibilities to meet the agreed goals set at the time of assessment.
For families this means:
· Identifying goals at the outset of therapy.
· Attending scheduled appointments.
· Following up with ideas for therapy at home. (making it part of daily life)
· Assisting in decisions about the frequency and intensity of therapy.
For therapists this means:
· Providing assessment information that will enable decisions to be made about goals for therapy
· Providing intervention strategies and training to families and to significant others in the child’s life.
· Providing families with all the information they need to make decisions.
· Evaluating the effectiveness of intervention and making appropriate recommendations.
For more information please ask your therapist for the resource
Fitting the Pieces Together: Handbook for families and therapists working with children (Joint Initiative of Therapy Focus, Cerebral Palsy Association and Edith Cowan University)
Kids Are Kids! has a great team of people working for the organisation. The team consists of Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Physiotherapists, a Clinical Psychologist and an Educational Consultant.
The team brings a wealth of experience with them when they work with families, schools and communities. All Professional employees of Kids Are Kids! have worked within the community, in schools and in family’s homes. This assists with therapy intervention to be provided in a collaborative way to ensure that the benefits occur across the child’s environments.
Similarly, all therapists have worked with children who have a range of needs. This includes children with developmental delay, intellectual and physical disabilities, speech and language delay and disorder, fine motor and co-ordination difficulties.
Speech pathology:
Articulation
Physiotherapy:
Balance
Occupational Therapy:
Fine motor skills
Clinical Psychology:
Individual/Family intervention to target issues of:
Anxiety
Kids Are Kids! aims to keep all costs to families at a minimum. However the organisation needs to cover the cost of the time professionals spend outside that of direct contact with your child, in order to maintain sustainability.
The following services provided by Kids Are Kids! will attract a cost
(excluding those government funded services). Effective from February 1st 2004.
· Assessment sessions
· Assessment reports
· Individual sessions
· Home visits
· School visits
· Home programs
· Interim reports
· Intervention reports
· Fine motor resources
· Summary reports
· Letters of support
· Documented guidelines for procedures such as manual handling, mealtimes etc.
· Referral letters requiring detailed reporting
· Communication resources
Services
for Clients in receipt of Compensation
A child who has had a head injury as a result of an accident or incident may initially receive services through a hospital based service. After a period of time the child will be moving back into the home, community and/or school environment. It is at this point that Kids Are Kids! can provide therapy services and co-ordinate the transition process for families.
Services Provided
· Occupational therapy, speech pathology, physiotherapy & clinical psychology services are all available directly through Kids Are Kids!
· Consultancy & training of families, carers & other support staff such as education assistants in the ongoing management of clients.
· Specialised equipment prescription, provision, training & monitoring. This service plays a crucial role in optimising client’s physical access for home & community, mobility, transport, communication, social interaction & participation within their community.
· Advocacy support for clients & their families as they transition back into community services from hospital.
· Case Coordination:
- This includes development of an overall service plan (Individual Family
Intervention Plan) with identified goals, intervention strategies &
outcome measures in collaboration with families & key stake holders.
- Coordination of specialist appointments & referrals to other
professionals and/or agencies.
- Liaison & collaboration with schools & education staff including
participation in Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings.
- networking with other community agencies & programmes to facilitate
the clients re-integration into their local community.
Kids Are Kids! provides a comprehensive & coordinated approach to the provision of these services. This ensures both optimal outcomes for clients and a cost effective provision of services.
Specific benefits of our services are detailed below.
· Case Coordination ensures the efficient & effective provision of a comprehensive rehabilitation programme.
· It is a clear advantage for families to be able to access the different therapies through one agency that also provides Case Coordination. Individual therapy programmes are effectively coordinated & integrated for optimal outcomes. The case manager is aware of the regular therapy appointments before booking and co-ordinating external appointments for the family. This provides for a cohesive and complimentary provision of services.
· Kids Are Kids! operates from a collaborative transdisciplinary team based approach. With all members of the therapy team working in collaboration with one another and communicating regularly, multiple goals can be targeted simultaneously. This has many positive benefits for the client and their family.
· The Family Centred Model of Practice is an integral part of the operation of Kids Are Kids! This is in line with current best practice. This approach encourages parents/carers to be active participants in the child’s rehabilitation. This approach also facilitates the establishment of positive partnerships with clients & their families based on trust, open & honest communication. It offers a crucial support system to clients & families at time where they are facing significant challenges. Support & understanding is frequently needed for them to fully engage in the rehabilitation programme.
· The therapy staff have extensive experience & expertise in the area of disability & paediatrics. They have also worked in school & community based settings. This ensures the provision of efficient, effective & integrated services, which are to the highest possible standards.
· In addition therapy staff have extensive experience with the provision of specialised equipment & environmental access. This is essential to ensure that appropriate prescriptions & recommendations are made to address clients’ needs & optimise cost effectiveness.
· Kids Are Kids! is community based and services may be provided across a number of settings such as home, school, community as well as the Kids Are Kids! centre. This flexibility enables the therapy programme to compliment & work with other community based activities in which the client is engaged.
The
KidStart Early Intervention Programme
In 2000 Kids Are Kids! successfully applied to the Disability Services Commission to become a preferred provider of early intervention therapy services. This offered families an alternative to other government funded early intervention therapy service providers. The service became the KidStart Programme. It officially commenced January 15th 2001.
· To provide children with access to a caring and stimulating learning environment.
· To enhance all areas of early childhood development (language, social, emotional and movement) in order to help children realise their full potential.
· To foster self-esteem and confidence through promoting success and the value of individual differences.
· To provide an equitable service and maintain high ethical standards.
· To provide a high quality, personalised service to families.
· The KidStart programme provides speech pathology, occupational therapy and physiotherapy services in a collaborative transdisciplinary team based approach. This is to ensure the individual needs of each registered child and their families are effectively addressed.
· The programme is based on the Family Centred Model of Practice.
· The KidStart programme offers a wide range of service delivery options which includes:
- Centre based group programmes – evaluation and intervention.
- Centre based individual therapy sessions – evaluation and intervention.
- Home visits – evaluation and consultative support.
- Daycare, Kindy, Pre-primary visits – consultative support and advocacy.
- Formulation of Individual Family Intervention Plans and Individual
Education plans.
- Parent/family information, education and networking.
- Liaison with other stakeholders – eg. teachers, daycare workers, LAC’s,
extended family members.
- Support in other community facilities such as recreation programmes.
- Indirect services – resource preparation, documentation and programme
planning, travel related to the visiting services.
· Kids Are Kids! is funded to provide occupational therapy, speech pathology and physiotherapy services for 17 clients.
· This service is open to children aged 0 – 5 years who meet the Disability Service Commission’s eligibility criteria for level 2 (child must have significant developmental delay across all areas) and/or 3 (qualify for DSC registration) services. Children who are 6 years of age and are repeating pre-primary and are ineligible for school age therapy services are also eligible.
· Children who meet the DSC’s eligibility criteria for level 2 and/or 3 services can access only one DSC funded service provider for their child’s therapy needs. Families who choose the KidStart programme for their child’s therapy are unable to simultaneously access any other DSC funded therapy service.
· All KidStart families with level 3 DSC registration may access government funded services other than therapy such as social work, psychology and podiatry through DSC.
· Clients not already registered with DSC must provide a written referral from a Paediatrician or Medical Officer detailing the child’s diagnosis which meet the level 2 criteria.
· Clients who have level 3 registration with DSC must provide written confirmation of registration.
· In keeping with our family centred practice approach we ask that the Parents or Legal Guardian must make the initial contact with Kids Are Kids!
It is acknowledged that the DSC funding provides for a limited amount of therapy and families frequently feel their child requires more therapy intervention than can be offered through the KidStart programme. In light of this there is the opportunity for families “top up” their government funded services with the additional fee paying services offered at Kids Are Kids! Refer to the information sheet detailing these services & programmes.
· It must be noted that private health insurance rebates cannot be claimed on these services by families receiving the government funded service through Kids Are Kids!
· Alternatively families may choose to access alternative private therapy services. It is helpful to the therapists of the KidStart programme if they are made aware of additional private therapy. Consultations with the private therapist will ensure that the therapies provided will compliment each other to achieve the best possible outcomes for the child.
To get more details regarding the KidStart programme contact the KidStart Coordinator on 9313 6566 or email info@kidsarekids.org.au
· Families can contact Kids Are Kids! directly to request services. A referral from a doctor or other allied health professional is not required.
· Paediatricians can refer to Kids Are Kids! via phone or letter at which time the family will be contacted to offer services.
· Where families are seeking to register their child in the KidStart Early Intervention Programme it must be demonstrated that the child meets the diagnostic eligibility criteria. A written referral from a medical officer or paediatrician detailing the child’s diagnosis or written confirmation of registration with the Disability Services Commission is required. For further details regarding the specific eligibility criteria please contact the KidStart Coordinator on 9313 6566
What do families bring to the first appointment?
It is very helpful to the team at Kids Are Kids! if we have specific information that you may have collected from different health professionals &/or teacher. So bring with you any reports or documents you may feel are relevant.
Private Health Insurance Rebates
Private health insurance rebates are claimable for therapy and clinical psychology services that attract a fee. The amount of rebate does vary depending on the type of service provided. So families are advised to contact their insurance fund to find out the rebates that apply to specific services.
Your feedback is important
At Kids Are Kids! we believe that our clients deserve quality services. If you believe that our service is not up to standard, please let us know so that we can correct the problem.
You can help us to improve the quality of our services in several ways:
· You can raise your concerns informally with the person who gave the service. He or she may not even be aware that you were dissatisfied. It is often easier to deal with problems at their source.
· If you wish to ask Kids Are Kids! to investigate the problem for you, the feedback procedure has the following steps:
·
You may ring or
write to or email the consumer liaison officer to ask for an
interview to explain the problem.
The telephone number is 9313 6566.
Postal Address is PO Box 1096, Booragoon, Western Australia 6954
Forward feedback by email to Kids Are Kids!
· You will need to explain what happened, why it is a problem for you, and what you would like Kids Are Kids! to do to correct the problem. The consumer liaison officer will arrange a suitable time with you to report on the results of his/her investigations.
· The consumer liaison officer will speak to the people involved, as there are two sides to each service problem. Your concerns will not be shared with anyone who does not need to know with privacy and confidentiality being maintained at all times.
· At the agreed time, the consumer liaison officer will contact you to report on what Kids Are Kids! can do to assist with your difficulty
· You may also lodge a formal complaint about Kids Are Kids! service with the Office of Health Review under Part 6, Disability Services Amendment Act 1999.
At Kids Are Kids! we believe that open and honest communication is the most productive way to foster trusting and effective relationships. We hope you will raise any concerns with the services that you may have as soon as the issue arises.