Early childhood approach

What is the early childhood approach?

Latrobe Community Health Service is the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) early childhood partner delivering early childhood supports for children aged 0-8 years with developmental delay or disability in the Central Highlands and Wimmera South West regions of Victoria.

Latrobe Community Health Service also owns and operates Link Health and Community®. Link delivers early childhood supports in Inner East Melbourne, Outer East Melbourne, Southern Melbourne, Inner Gippsland and Outer Gippsland.

The early childhood approach helps children younger than 6 with developmental delay or children younger then 9 with disability and their families / carers. It supports families to help children develop the skills they need to take part in daily activities and achieve the best possible outcomes throughout their life.

Where does Latrobe Community Health Service provide the early childhood approach?

Latrobe Community Health Service provides the early childhood approach in Central Highlands and Wimmera South West.

Wimmera South West region includes:

Shire of Corangamite
Glenelg Shire Council
Hindmarsh Shire
Horsham Rural City Council
Moyne Shire Council
Northern Grampians Shire Council
Southern Grampians Shire Council
City of Warrnambool
Shire of West Wimmera
Yarriambiack Shire Council

Central Highlands region includes:

City of Ballarat
Moorobool Shire
Golden Plains Shire
Hepburn Shire
Pyrenees Shire
Ararat Rural City Council

Where does Link Health & Community provide the early childhood approach?

Link Health & Community provides the early childhood approach in Inner East Melbourne, Outer East Melbourne, Southern Melbourne, Inner Gippsland and Outer Gippsland.

Inner East Melbourne region includes:

Boorondara
Manningham
Monash
Whitehorse

Outer East Melbourne region includes:

Maroondah
Knox
Yarra Ranges

How does the early childhood approach work?

You can contact Latrobe Community Health Service and Link Health & Community if concerns about your child’s development have been identified. As every child is different, your support and the information that is provided will be targeted to your child’s individual needs and circumstances.

If you or a service provider would like your child to receive early intervention, a referral form needs to be completed. Once a referral form is received by the early childhood approach team servicing your region, the family is allocated an early childhood approach partner. They will contact you to arrange a meeting to discuss your child.

For Inner East, Outer East, Southern Melbourne, Inner Gippsland, Outer Gippsland, the referral form and process for submitting the referral can be found here.

For Wimmera South West and Central Highlands, the referral form and process for submitting the referral can be found here.

What an early childhood approach partner can do

Connect the family and child with the most appropriate supports in your area, which could include the community health centre, playgroup, or educational setting.
Provide some short-term early intervention where it has been identified as the most appropriate support.
Help the family to request NDIS access if the child requires longer-term early childhood intervention supports. If your child becomes an NDIS participant the the early childhood partner will work with the family to help them apply for an NDIS plan.

Our teams

Our early childhood teams consists of a range of allied health professionals including:

Occupational Therapists
Speech Pathologists
Early Childhood Educators
Allied Health Assistants

Providing feedback

We would like to hear from you. We accept all feedback about our services.

If you would like to make a complaint, provide comments or feedback about Latrobe Community Health Service, visit our complaints and compliments page.