Use of family disability service by families with young children with disabilities

AIM: To investigate which families with young children with disabilities used disability services and when they used services to inform policy on service delivery. METHOD: We used linked administrative data from different ministries in Alberta to describe families' use of disability services when their children were between the ages of 3 and 8 years old. Disability was investigated on the basis of the presence of a severe special education code for children, and level of special education code. The outcome was the use of family disability services. RESULTS: Of 31 346 children, 24 761 (79.0%) had no special education code, 3982 (12.7%) had a mild special education code, and 2603 (8.3%) had a severe special education code. Level of special education code was associated with child characteristics and service use. Children with severe special education codes generally were more likely to report service use and have poor outcomes than those with less severe codes. Of note, 26% of children with severe special education codes used family disability services. In addition, among children with severe special education codes, many years of severe coding (compared with fewer years) had the strongest association with family disability service use (prevalence ratio 5.50; 95% confidence interval 4.10-7.37). Associations with family disability service use were seen with mental health, health care, and educational achievement. Interactions between child characteristics and service use were observed. INTERPRETATION: This study provides evidence that families were more likely to use disability services when they were involved with other services, and that use interacts with various factors. The findings highlight the importance of considering service eligibility, referral, and integration. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: Children with severe special education codes were more likely to use services than those with less severe codes. They were also more likely to have poor outcomes than those with less severe codes. Fewer families used disability services early (age 3y) compared with later on. Families' use of disability services corresponded with other service use. The study elucidated potential barriers and facilitators to disability service use.