Child Development Service — Canterbury

To contact the Child Development Service:

• freephone: 0800 333 662
• phone: 03 383 6820
• email: referralschilddevelopment@cdhb.health.nz

The Child Development Service is at:

Montreal House
440 Montreal Street
Christchurch

Parking is available onsite.

The Child Development Service covers a wide geographical area from Kekerengu (north of Kaikoura) to the Rangitata River (south of Ashburton), inland to the Alps and includes the Chatham Islands.

We see tamarikiwith a range of conditions, including:

• cerebral palsy
• delayed development
• autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• down syndrome (trisomy 21)
• neuromuscular disorders and syndromes with developmental delays.

We also see children under 12 months with a suspected or diagnosed torticollis.

Our team provides assessment and intervention for this group of tamariki which may include:

• parent information sessions
• therapy support
• post-operative therapy
• applications for supply of home equipment
• housing modifications
• hydrotherapy
• orthotics assessment.

Our team members are here to work alongside you and your whānau and to support you with achieving your goals for your tamaiti. We work closely with the professionals who refer to us and with education providers, so we can provide a coordinated service for you and your tamaiti.

Your tamaiti might receive support from one person in our team or several, depending on their needs. This could include support from:

• a physiotherapist who works with you to support motor development and participation in activities and improve quality of life
• occupational therapists who work with you around the development of day-to-day life skills, fine motor skill development and provide sensory processing education and support
• social workers who support parents, whānau and caregivers in meeting their own needs and challenges while caring for a child with developmental needs
• a speech language therapist who works with whānau to assess and support swallowing safety and skill
• a dietitian who assesses and provides interventions to support the nutritional needs of tamariki with enteral feeding needs, restrictive eating, or faltering growth
• a Kaitautoko who engages with Māori whānau referred to the Child Development Service
• a psychologist who completes assessments for consideration of autism and intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) diagnosis
• an allied health assistant / Kaiāwhina (helper) who supports our clinicians in their work with tamariki and whānau. This could include providing support with individual intervention plans for tamariki, providing group or 1:1 parent information sessions, supporting with running clinics, and supporting with the creation or development of resources for tamariki.

Your support from our team is individualised and tailored to meet your current priorities or concerns for your tamaiti. We:

• acknowledge that whānau know their tamariki best and know what will work best for them
• help you create a plan which you can use to support your tamaiti in achieving their goals
• work alongside you and regularly review goals to monitor progress.

As our mahi with tamariki is tailored to each individual, the length of time we are involved with tamariki can vary. Generally, once goals are achieved or if the tamaiti is making good progress towards their goals, our support will end and you will need a new request for support to re-enter the service. We welcome re-referrals at any time up until tamariki have their 16th birthday.

What we need from you

We want to work with you so that your tamaiti and whānau achieve the best outcomes. Our services are under constant demand. To be able to provide the right service at the right time, we ask that you:

• contact us ahead of time if you need to rearrange your appointment with our team members. Once 3 appointments have been missed without communication from you, we will look to close the episode of care and you will need a new referral to access our team
• let us know if now is not a good time for you to work with our team. We can close the current episode of care and your tamariki can be re-referred at a better time for you
• let us know if your contact or health provider details change.

We know your child’s healthcare journey can be stressful at times. Our team members strive to treat tamariki and their whānau with kindness and respect and ask that they receive this in return. Verbal and physical aggression is not tolerated by our team.

Referrals are accepted from:

• allied health professionals
• paediatricians or other medical team members
• general practitioners (GPs) – your GP can view referral criteria on the Community Health Pathways website
• needs assessment and service coordination service (NASC). In Canterbury this service is called Lifelinks
• community health professionals for example Plunket nurses
• Ministry of Education early intervention or special education teams.

Referrals for our psychology assessment team are only accepted from the paediatric department.

Lifelinks

Referral form

Request for Support – Therapy Team Child Development Service Referral Form 

What we do not accept referrals for

Because they sit outside of our funding contract, we do not accept referrals if:

• concerns or needs are school-based for example handwriting, transitions at school, access to the curriculum — you should talk with your school about a request for support to the Ministry of Education Learning Support team
• concerns or needs are related to language development or communication skills — you, your GP or your preschool, kindy or school can make a request for support to Ministry of Education Learning Support team
• concerns or needs are related to an acute medical or surgical need — talk to your healthcare provider
• your tamaiti is ACC-funded — talk to the ACC case manager
• you have chosen to see a private therapist — the  Child Development Service is unable to provide any funding or reimbursement to whānau who chose to use private therapy providers
• concerns are related to mental health challenges, for example ADHD or anxiety — ask your healthcare provider about the most appropriate service to provide support
• the primary concerns are related to behaviour — talk to your LifeLinks coordinator about a referral to Explore Behaviour Support Services, or ask your healthcare provider about other options.

Explore Behaviour Support Services

• Video: Supporting young people with anxiety — Vimeo — for ideas about supporting tamariki with anxiety concerns
• Safer walking — resources you can buy to support you keeping your tamariki safe if you have concerns about them running away
• Explore — online learning packages with practical ideas and strategies around behaviour 
• Information for parents and caregivers — Ministry of Education
• Kids Health
• Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People
• Enable New Zealand