review of education for young people with serious health conditions

Situation

As part of a commitment to supporting educational opportunity for disadvantaged groups, a state government commissioned a review into education services provided for children and young people with serious medical and mental health conditions.

The department was aware that current supports had not been developed systematically, and therefore it was likely there would be some gaps and inconsistencies in provision. The department commissioned dandolo to describe current provision, including its strengths and limitations, and to design a new model that could provide consistent services across the state.

Approach

• We examined what exists and developed a simple organising framework to assess the status quo and potential reform options based on three things: who should be served, what services should be offered and how the services should be organised.
• We iteratively tested specific propositions with stakeholders to assess whether our scenarios were applicable to the real world.
• We undertook extensive modelling of cost and demand scenarios.
• We redesigned a service that would maximise objectives of effectiveness, equity and efficiency.
• We organised the new design as a model that could be deployed in a staged approach to ensure an effective transition. 

Results

dandolo’s review resulted in a successful budget bid and implementation of key recommendations, including the establishment of a new service as proof of concept for the model development.

dandolo continues to work with the department to implement and expand the model we recommended.