What is EIIS? EIIS Video EIIS Service Delivery System What is ASD?		Service Provider Parent Resource Package Training Opportunities Regional Evaluation Report
Return to Table of Contents EIIS - Western Region: Background Early Identification and Intervention Services (EIIS) is an inter-sectoral initiative of the Western Regional Child and Youth Action Committee (WRCAYAC) that aims to enhance services in health, education and community service sectors for families with children, birth to six years of age, with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Service providers of partnering agencies from community services, education and health sectors work collaboratively to implement project enhancements across the Western Region's seven counties: Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth, Digby, Annapolis, and Kings. In the spring of 2000, the Early Identification and Intervention Services Sub-committee (EIISS) of the Province's Child and Youth Action Committee (CAYAC) proposed that CYIWG provide leadership as a "Regional Coordinating Committee" (RCC) in facilitating the rollout of the EIIS project in the Western Region. The project's design would be based on the EIIS Model as set out in the document entitled, "A CAYAC Model for Enhancing Services in Nova Scotia for Children Under Six Years of Age With Special Needs: Technical Report" (EIISS, April 2000). On August 10, 2000, CYIWG's membership agreed to spearhead the EIIS initiative in Western Nova Scotia. By mid-September, Early Identification and Intervention Services Sub-committee (EIISS) of the Province's Child and Youth Action Committee (CAYAC) clarified its terms for Regional Coordinating Committees to access available funding and CYIWG undertook its role: bringing together regional stakeholders to discuss the proposed model and to develop the Region's funding proposal, and, in November 2000, hiring a Special Needs Support Coordinator to facilitate requisite inter-sectoral collaboration, planning and project implementation. In May 2001, the EIIS Sub-committee of the Nova Scotia Child and Youth Action Committee (CAYAC) formally approved the Region's Grant Application. The EIIS Implementation Team (See Appendix I - List of Members) was formed as an advisory committee to coordinate project activities under the direction of CYIWG, which serves as the operations committee of the Western Regional CAYAC. As outlined in the EIIS Regional Grant Application (March 2001), the objectives of the EIIS initiative are to impact positively on five priority areas identified by CYIWG's proposal development committee. These priority areas are: Support for families: Improved access to information and networks that support families with their role in intervention. Assessment: Coordinated multi-disciplinary service delivery system with an availability of trained professionals for early detection and assessment of ASD in the Region. Intervention: Improved intervention techniques (professionally and home-based) that lead to better outcomes for individual children. Greater capacity of parents and service providers in the Region to meet the needs of children with ASD. Information Dissemination: Development of a reliable information system available from a single source. Parent Training and Professional Development: Access to training opportunities that improve assessment and intervention techniques (professionally and home-based). Beginning in October 2001, professionals were hired by the District Health Authorities (DHA), Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Centres (NSHSC) and the Yarmouth Association of Community Residential Options (YACRO) to enhance existing services and to assist in carrying out proposed project activities. Table 1 outlines the proposed and actual full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions recruited to enhance services. Service providers hired through the EIIS initiative work together with their departments and partnering organizations (e.g., early intervention programs, daycares, and schools) to deliver services that aim to have positive impacts on the long-term functional outcomes of children with ASD. STAFF POSITION PROPOSED FTE COMPLIMENT ACTUAL FTE RECRUITED 2002 ACTUAL FTE RECRUITED 2003 Community Support Worker 1.5 FTE 1.5 FTE 1.5 FTE Psychologist 1.5 FTE 1.0 FTE (Yarmouth - Vacant) 1.5 FTE Occupational Therapist 1.5 FTE 1.5 FTE 1.5 FTE Speech Language Pathologist 2.5 FTE 1.5 FTE (Shelburne, Yarmouth & Digby -Vacant) 1.7 FTE (Yarmouth & Digby - Vacant) Western Regional Respite Services 0.25 FTE 0.25 FTE 0.25 FTE Identified Service Delivery Gaps Occupational Therapist (SSDHA) Transition Workers Speech Language Pathologist (SSDHA) o0.5 FTE o3.5 FTE o0.5 FTE o- o- o- o- o- o0.5 FTE Table 1: EIIS full-time equivalent (FTE) staff enhancements. By March 2002, the EIIS Implementation Team established two Diagnostic Assessment Sites (DAS) at the Valley Regional Hospital and at the South Shore Regional Hospital respectively. These two DAS sites provide assessment services to children with ASD and their families across the Western Region. Three EIIS Autism Teams, one per District Health Authority, were also established to provide intervention services across the Region. Service providers of partnering agencies from community services, education and health sectors work collaboratively, as part of the EIIS Autism Teams, to provide coordinated multi-disciplinary assessments and interventions for children with ASD and their families.

Christina Schulze-Allen - EIIS Regional Coordinator Western Regional CAYAC, P.O. Box 520, Middleton Nova Scotia, B0S 1P0 Email: csa.cyiwg@ns.sympatico.ca	Phone: (902) 825-5377   Fax: (902) 825-5379
Supported by Kings Regional Rehabilitation Centre Technical Resource Centre