Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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AIM is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every eligible child can fully participate in the ECCE programme and reap the benefits of quality early years care and education. AIM is a child-centred model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs of the child and the pre-school setting.

Where a pre-school provider, in conjunction with a parent, considers that they may need some additional support in order to meet the needs of a child with a disability in an inclusive way, they can apply for a suite of more targeted supports.

As of the 15th May, there have been 2,372 applications for AIM Level 4 support, seeking expert advice and mentoring from AIM Early Years Specialists within the Better Start Early Years Specialist Service.

The current turnaround between the submission of AIM Access and Inclusion Profiles and decisions in relation to AIM Level 4 supports is 8 working days on average. Applications are first reviewed by an Early Years Specialist, who makes contact with the pre-school provider to request more detail and begin the review process. If the pre-school provider requires AIM Level 4 support, a visit, at a mutually agreed time, is arranged. Immediate phone support can also be provided where relevant.

A pre-school provider, in partnership with a parent, can apply for AIM Level 7, which is additional capitation to fund an extra person in the pre-school room or enable the reduction of the adult to child ratio where this is critical to ensuring a child's participation in the ECCE programme. The current turnaround between the submission of AIM Access and Inclusion Profiles and decisions for AIM Level 7 support is 50.5 working days on average. This would include some parents/ pre-school providers who submit an AIM Access and Inclusion Profile with the intention of receiving supports under another level of AIM and later going on to apply for AIM Level 7.

As of the 15th May, AIM has provided 2,160 children with varying degrees of support to ensure that they can fully participate in the ECCE programme:

- Under Level 4, (Expert Early Years Educational Advice and Support), 2,100 applications have been approved.

- Under Level 5 (Equipment and Minor Alterations), 199 applications for equipment and 29 applications for minor alterations have been approved.

- Under Level 7 (Additional Assistance in the Pre-school Room), 1,228 applications have been approved.