Education
Enhanced Support for Early Childhood Health and Development Checks
Enhanced Support for Early Childhood Health and Development Checks
Early childhood education and care providers are being encouraged to avail themselves of grants aimed at facilitating free health and development checks for 4-year-olds.
In collaboration with NSW Health, the NSW Department of Education is spearheading the Health and Development Checks in Early Childhood Education (HDC) Program, aimed at making these checks readily accessible to all 4-year-olds attending participating services, including public preschools, community preschools, and long-day care centres.
Recent data from the 2021 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) revealed that over 44 percent of NSW children do not meet developmental milestones upon commencing school. Additionally, almost half of all 4-year-olds miss out on their recommended health and development assessments.
The HDC program represents a strategic investment, with local health district professionals teaming up with early childhood services to schedule these checks and identify any necessary support ahead of school entry. The assessments cover various aspects of children’s health and development, including cognitive, social, and emotional development, speech and communication skills, motor skills, and physical growth.
Early childhood education and care providers are being encouraged to avail themselves of grants aimed at facilitating free health and development checks for 4-year-olds.
Furthermore, the HDC program aims to boost the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children meeting developmental milestones across all five Australian Early Development Census domains to 55 percent by 2031, aligning with Closing the Gap target 4.
To facilitate the HDC program, the NSW Department of Education has allocated over $4 million to its HDC Participation Grant Program. This initiative aims to aid eligible services in accessing the HDC program more efficiently.
Eligible services participating in the HDC program in 2024 can apply for grant funding across three categories, with a total of up to $7,500 in available funds.
These categories include:
- Staffing support for the health and development checks program, such as providing relief for educators to complete pre-assessment questionnaires or support children during the checks.
- Space development for the health and development checks, including repurposing or refurbishing rooms within the service.
- Capacity-building initiatives to support children’s health and development post-check, such as attending workshops or completing training.
Interested services can check their eligibility for the Health and Development Checks in Early Childhood Education (HDC) Program grant and submit applications through the department’s website using the SmartyGrants platform. The application window closes on March 31, 2024.
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