Early Childhood Intervention Services

Early Childhood Intervention Services (ECIS) is a program funded by the Department of Education and Training (DET) to support children diagnosed with a disability such as Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down’s syndrome, genetic disorders, global developmental delay and/or significant developmental delay, and their families. These funded supports are available for children from birth till the year before they enter school.

About Early Childhood Intervention Services

As an ECIS service provider, Star Health looks after 15 families at any one time. Our Child Health team which consists of Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists and Physiotherapists, adopts a family centred approach recognising the importance the parent/main carer(s) play in the development and learning of young children through their relationship with the child. We also work closely with other teams within the organisation e.g. Family Casework Counsellors, Dietician, Podiatrists to optimise outcomes for each child and their families.

How ECIS at Star Health work

We work in a Key Worker capacity where every family works collaboratively with one main Child Health team member who takes on this Key Worker role. Your Key Worker will help you develop a service plan and to support you and your family in achieving your goals. At times, your Key Worker might bring in another Child Health team member from a different discipline for specialised support. This means that in addition to your Key Worker, you will have the other members of the Chid Health team around you and your child, ready to be involved if necessary.

Your Key Worker at Star Health will assist you with therapy, service planning and coordination, assistance and support to access services such as kindergarten and child care. We work closely with you and your family, your Maternal and Child Health Services, medical specialists, childcare and kindergarten staff to ensure we are all focussing on your child’s individual needs and your family’s goals. Services are therefore individually tailored to support children and families with their personal everyday experiences, and activities in their natural environment (natural environments can be home, community, childcare etc).

How do I access Early Childhood Intervention Services?

This service can be accessed by families who have a child with a disability or significant developmental delay, from birth to the year before school entry.

A significant developmental delay is present when the child is not able to meet usual milestones of development such as:

  • Self-care (holding spoon, eating, dressing)
  • Social emotional development (playing with others)
  • Speech and language problems (making sounds, saying words and sentences)
  • Cognitive development (understanding instructions, concentrating on an activity)
  • and/or physical development (drawing, climbing, walking, sitting, holding and manipulating toys)

This service if offered in the Southern metropolitan area of Melbourne. Your Star Health ECIS Key Worker will provide services in the families’ natural environments e.g. home, kinder/child care and other relevant community based settings.

Places in the ECIS program get allocated by ECIS Central Intake through a waiting list. Star Health cannot accept referrals directly to our ECIS program – all referrals have to go to South Eastern Victoria region ECIS Intake Team

Services are available from Star Health ECIS team Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm

How much will it cost?

The service is funded by the Department of Education and free of charge for participating families.


Contact Information

For further information, call our Intake & Referral team. Referrals to our ECIS program need to go through South Eastern Victoria region ECIS Intake Team.

9525 1300