Parents of children with special needs fear their children will be forced into mainstream preschools and schools before they are ready when the ACT government ceases its early intervention programs at the end of the December, as private providers move in under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
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Weston Creek mother Jennifer Merriman saw the benefits of the ACT's early-intervention groups for the development delays of her eight-year-old daughter Leira and wanted her three-year-old son Rhye to have the same opportunity.
But none of the six private providers who won National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) tenders to offer the services are providing the same frequency or level of support and Mrs Merriman believes it's a deliberate attempt to end the services entirely in the ACT.
"It's a complete shambles - I'm absolutely disgusted," she said.
"We've received the NDIS package, our children have been approved, but we've got nowhere to spend our money."
She collected 2000 signatures on a petition earlier this year, calling for the ACT government to continue offering the preschool-style groups for children with development delays, aged from two to school-age.
But Disability Minister Joy Burch has shown no signs of backing down. And just weeks out from the end of the year Mrs Merriman fears her son will be left in the lurch.
"None [of the providers] are offering small group sessions where we can drop\ off our children for three-hours," she said.
"We went through the playgroup stage, where you stay with the child for two hours. And now we're at the next step where you leave the children."
Mrs Merriman said the groups were a vital part of early intervention encouraging the children to use the skills they learnt in individual occupational therapy, speech therapy and physiotherapy sessions, to socialise with others and improve their social anxiety.
She said staff from one of the providers told her they were phasing out all early intervention groups by the end of 2015 as part of the tender requirements.
She believes the groups were being wound back in the ACT in favour of individual therapy alone, to match the lesser services offered by other states and territories.
"Because [Rhye] will be four in December, Minister Burch says he should go to [mainstream] preschool," she said.
"He's not ready. How is he going to get the support he needs in a class of 25?
"We want that beautiful environment with no more than 10 children."
NDIA operations general manager Liz Cairns said it was up to the service provider and parents to determine what was required for each child, but the NDIA wanted children to "integrate into usual childhood activities" such as children's services or school.
"Some providers may prefer parents to be present as the parents learn how best to assist their child," she said.
"It was not a requirement of the [early intervention] tender, but it does fit with the good practice information published by the ACT Government."
But Ms Burch put the onus back on the NDIA and parents saying families were free to choose the service that suited them best.
In a "unique" move to help develop the market, the NDIA chose to "bulk-fund" six organisations to provide early intervention services in the ACT from the start of the 2015 school year, Ms Burch said. Usually NDIS funds go to the individuals rather than providers.
But Ms Burch said at least seven other organisations were also offering early intervention services.
Ms Burch said the ACT government was withdrawing from specialist disability services, beginning with early intervention of preschool-aged children, to encourage the market to grow.
