Review of children’s disability services in selected countries

A largely unified children’s disability service system was not identified across the six countries reviewed. The types of services available, how they are accessed, what they provide, and the cohorts they support, may be related to a determination of disability, the requirement of a formal diagnosis of a specific condition, the identification of having a special educational need, the presence of a defined need or risk factor, or a combination of these. The findings indicate that the configuration of services relevant to children with disabilities can differ considerably between, but also within, countries.

The review indicates that the configuration of CDNT services in Ireland presents benefits and challenges, in comparison with the service landscape in the countries reviewed. Across the six countries, this review identified that systems can be complex for families to navigate, that service provision can vary across locations, and support pathways may be more fragmented for certain types of services, areas of need or condition, or age groups. This provides support for the aspirations of CDNT services as CDNTs are intended to provide a streamlined pathway for equitable access to a team that could provide comprehensive support for children with disabilities who have complex needs, in their community, from birth to 18 years.

However, challenges to the practical implementation of the CDNT model have been widely reported. As such, this broadness in scope and access criteria also presents a significant challenge in relation to the practical implementation of CDNT services.