Planning with Partners – Protocols and Initiatives
It is our expectation that ongoing collaborative planning and information sharing between school divisions, partner departments and respective service jurisdictions will greatly improve educational outcomes for children. The following protocols and initiatives have been developed collaboratively to support students, schools and communities towards appropriate educational programming.
Information for Schools, Students, and Families
Healthy Child Manitoba works with departments, governments and community, towards the well-being of Manitoba's children and youth.
This Healthy Child Manitoba protocol, replaces the Manitoba Transition Planning Process Support Guidelines for Students with Special Needs Reaching Age 16 (1999). It is intended for transition planning partners including educators, staff from Manitoba Family Services and Housing, designated agencies, Regional Health Authority programs/services and Child and Family Services agencies.
Guidelines for Registration of Students in Care of Child Welfare Agencies (
64 KB)
This Healthy Child Manitoba protocol has been developed and revised in collaboration with school divisions and child and family services agencies. We are requesting that school division and local child and family service personnel use these guidelines to assist them as they begin the information sharing and collaborative planning for children in care.
Guidelines for Early Childhood Transition to School for Children with Special
Needs ( 56 KB)
This Healthy Child Manitoba protocol, developed and revised in collaboration with our colleagues in school divisions and child daycare agencies, is designed to facilitate community-based agencies working with preschool children with special needs to exchange information with the school system prior (one year) to the child enrolling. This protocol will enable the school system to prepare for the child and initiate professional development and training for staff.
Unified and Referral Intake System
URIS is a joint initiative of the departments of Family Services and Consumer Affairs, Health and Education. The protocol supports children attending community programs who have special health care needs and require assistance when they are apart from their parents/guardians. Through consultation with health professional and associations, URIS adopted a classification of health care procedures which divides medical procedures into categories. The categories identify differing levels of complexity in health care procedures and then assign the professional qualification (i.e., registered nurse, non-health care personnel trained and supervised by a registered nurse) required by personnel to support these children. As well, the classification system introduces a provincial standard regarding the recruitment and training of personnel supporting children with special health care needs.
URIS Group A
Group A procedures are complex medical procedures which must be performed by a registered nurse. Children classified as Group A often require support from a medical assistive device or technology that replaces or augments a vital bodily function without which the child would be at risk of further disability or death.
Some of the complex health care procedures requiring the clinical skill and judgement of a registered nurse to support a child attending a community program (licensed child care, school or respite) are ventilator care, tracheostomy care and nasogastric tube care. Section 4 of the URIS Policy and Procedural Manual provides more detailed information.
The URIS Committee provides supplemental URIS funding to support eligible school-age children with identified Group A health care procedures while attending school. URIS applications are reviewed on a continuous intake process however most school divisions submit applications during the Special Needs Funding Level 2/3 periods. School divisions/districts are required to submit an application for children requiring Group A healthcare procedures and include the following documentation:
- Special Needs Categorical Grant Level 3 Funding Application (
77 KB) - URIS Application Form ( 58 KB)
- The student’s Individual Health Care Plan
The completed URIS application package should be sent to:
Unified Referral and Intake System Committee c/o
Student Services Unit
Program and Student Services Branch
204-1181 Portage Avenue
Telephone: 204-945-7907
Toll Free in Manitoba: 1-800-282-8069, ext. 7907
Email: pssbinfo@gov.mb.ca
URIS Group B Service
Education, Health, Family Services and Labour partner to provide URIS Group B service that supports children attending community programs who require assistance to perform Group B health care procedures when they are apart from their parents/guardians.
Examples of Group B health care procedures include catheterization, gastrostomy care and feeding, seizure management, diabetes management, inhalation of medication for asthma, and administration of an epi-pen for life threatening allergies. Community programs that are eligible to receive URIS support are schools, licensed child care facilities, respite service providers and recreation programs.
The URIS Policy and Procedure Manual established that Group B health care procedures could be carried out by personnel within eligible community programs, provided that a registered nurse developed a health care plan and provided these personnel with training and periodic monitoring.
The health care needs of children are identified at the time of school registration. Parents complete a URIS Group B application for support. Group B health care routines may be delegated to non health care personnel, who receive training and ongoing monitoring by a registered nurse (RN). A nurse works with schools and parents to develop a health care plan and this plan will direct the care of children attending school. In addition, the RN will train the staff designated by the school and may include teachers, educational assistants, and/or bus drivers.
To further support children with life-threatening allergies who are attending school, Manitoba Education formalized, in law, a school board’s obligation to develop an anaphylaxis policy. The local policy should include information and awareness for the school community, avoidance strategies and emergency response procedures, and be aligned with the Children with Known Risk of Anaphylaxis Policy Framework contained in the URIS Policy and Procedure Manual.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
- Manitoba Education, Program and Student Services Branch, URIS partner, 204-945-7907
- Manitoba Health - URIS – Lead for Group B Service Delivery, 204-786-7374
- Manitoba Family Services & Labour – URIS partner, 204-945-5898
- URIS Provincial Coordinator, 204-471-9570
- Manitoba Education, Education Administration Services, 945-6899
Legislation, Standards and Policies
- Unified Referral and Intake System (URIS) Policy and Procedure Manual: A Manual for administrators of community programs that support children with special health care needs (June 1999). (PDF of manual)
- The Public Schools Amendment Act (Anaphylaxis Policies) The Public Schools Amendment Act (Anaphylaxis Policies)
- Appropriate Educational Programming Regulation 155/2005 ( 122 KB)
- Appropriate Educational Programming in Manitoba: Standards for Student Services
( 130 KB) - Appropriate Educational Programming: A Handbook for Student Services
Other related Information:
Anaphylaxis in Schools & Other Settings, 2nd Edition, Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (CSACI)
Wraparound Planning
(Formerly known as “Circle of Care Planning”)
Wraparound is a process for planning and individualizing supports for children and adolescents with severe to profound emotional and behavioural disorders or other complex disorders and their caregivers, whose needs span an array of service providers. Warparound is not a set of services, but rather a process for meeting the complex needs of children/adolescents and their caregivers that involves the integration of multiple systems and the development of individualized plans of care.
In the Wraparound approach services and supports are "wrapped around" the child/adolescent and their caregiver(s) in that the child/adolescent and caregiver(s) are placed at the centre of the plan and their voice is paramount in identifying their individual and collective strengths, as well as identifying informal, statutory, and community based resources that may be required to meet their needs.
The Provincial Coordination of Services Committee (PCOS) oversees some of the training and implementation of the wraparound approach for students in schools. PCOS includes representatives from Manitoba Education, Justice, Family Services and Labour, and Health. PCOS also reviews student specific funding applications for the category of Level 3 Emotional Behavioural Disorders (EBD3).
Professional Learning Opportunities
- Interdepartmental Protocol Agreement for Children/Adolescents with Severe to profound Emotional/Behavioural Disorders
- Guidelines for EBD3 student specific funding
Contact
General Enquiries
Program and Student Services
Manitoba
Education
Telephone: 204-945-7907
Toll Free in Manitoba: 1-800-282-8069, ext. 7907
Email: pssbinfo@gov.mb.ca
