Kindergarten Inclusion Support (KIS)

Who

The KIS program is available to all services delivering Free Three and Four-Year Old Kindergarten or Early Start Kindergarten programs and are supporting a child who:

• has a disability as defined by the Disability Act 2006 and has ongoing high support needs, OR

• is undergoing continuing assessment of a disability, as defined by the Disability Act 2006 and ongoing high support needs, OR

• has complex medial needs, AND requires specialised support or room modifications to participate in the kinder program.

It is important to note that:

• KIS program support will not always be required to include a child with a disability.

• A diagnosis of a disability or a complex medical need does not in itself meet the KIS eligibility requirement.

To be eligible for KIS funding, the child will need to meet either the Disability or Complex medical needs eligibility criteria as outlined by the Department of Education's KIS guidelines and evidenced through supporting documentation.

Children without a diagnosis, and who are undergoing assessment, may be eligible for KIS funding so encourage parents/carers to share information about the child’s development with the kinder service.  

What you can get

KIS funding enables support to be provided directly to the service to promote inclusion and participation for children with a disability or complex medical needs.

Support can include:

·        specialist training for the kindergarten team

·        specialist consultancy to support changes to the kindergarten          program

·        minor building modifications

·        additional staffing to support all children in the program.

How to access

The kinder service will initiate the application so support the parent/carer to have a conversation with the service early to discuss safety and participation concerns for the child.

It can be helpful for other professionals working with a child, such as family service workers or allied health practitioners, to provide supporting evidence for the KIS application and to participate in the Program Support Group. Letters from the child’s paediatrician, specialist medical practitioner or registered psychologist can be used to provide evidence for the KIS application, including evidence of an appointment for developmental assessment.

The KIS application process is detailed and can take time, so if there are disability, developmental or medical concerns that impact a child’s safety or participation in kinder, support the family to start this conversation with the service when they enrol.

Consider

• If a child is attending a funded kindergarten program in a long day care setting, then the Commonwealth funded Inclusion Support Program (ISP) will also need to be considered. More information about the potential to combine KIS and ISP can be found here.
• It is important to consider NDIS eligibility for children with a disability or developmental delay as an additional support.
• Some children may also be eligible for KIS SET, a service which loans specialised equipment for the inclusion ofchildren with a significant disability into the kindergarten program.

Resources

• See more information about KIS including the KIS guidelines.

• Uniting has resources available for professionals with information about KIS and support for the application process.

• The Association for Children with a Disability has many resources available for families of children with a disability to support transition into kinder.

• The Association for Children with a Disability also run a free support line, helping families to understand their child’s rights and support them to advocate for their child and family. The support line is open Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. Call 03 9880 7000 or 1800 654 013 (regional), Text 0475 577 997 OR email: acdsupport@acd.org.au 

If additional support is needed beyond what the kinder can provide, contact the DET regional advisory group convenor in the child's area.