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What is EIIS? EIIS Video EIIS Service Delivery System What is ASD? |
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Service Provider Parent Resource Package Training Opportunities Regional Evaluation Report |
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What is EIIS? Early Identification and Intervention Services (EIIS) is an inter-sectoral initiative that aims to enhance services for families with children, birth to six years, 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 the Child and Youth Inter-sectoral Working Group (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, EIISS 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 was formed to implement 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:
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 community 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.
By March 2002, the EIIS Implementation Team established two Diagnostic Assessment Sites (DAS); one at Valley Regional Hospital and one at South Shore Regional Hospital. 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.
The EIIS initiative in Western Nova Scotia is funded by the Province's Child and Youth Action Committee (CAYAC). Service enhancements and activities carried out by the EIIS Implementation Team also require considerable in-kind contributions from several partnering organizations which include: EIIS Partners
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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 |
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