Overview

The EIPIC programme, comprising of EIPIC Under-2s and EIPIC@Centre, is delivered at EI centres by a team of EI Professionals and Allied Health Professionals. It supports children who require medium to high levels of early intervention (EI) support, and aims to increase the developmental growth potential of the child, minimise the development of secondary disabilities, and maximise integration into mainstream settings. 

The continuum of EI services include the following:

a) EIPIC Under-2s: This programme is targeted at children under 2 years old. It emphasises the training of parents/caregivers so that they can effectively carry out intervention strategies in the child’s daily routines at home. Such intervention strategies will help the child learn through his/her daily activities, and lead to early and more effective intervention. The EIPIC Under-2s programme requires the parent/caregiver to accompany the child. At 2 years old, the child will transition to the EIPIC@Centre programme.

b) EIPIC@Centre: This is a programme that provides both therapy and educational intervention services, typically in small groups. The child’s progress will be assessed regularly and the intervention goals and strategies customised to the child’s individual requirements.

c) DS-Plus: This is a programme that is provided in preschools targeted at 2 years old to 6 years old children requiring low levels of EI support, and are attending preschools. Children can only join this programme via recommendation by an EI professional once they have gone through the EIPIC@Centre programme, and cannot be directly referred into this programme. As part of regular progress reviews, the child’s EI professionals will use the Early Intervention Benchmarking Framework ¹ to identify children who are suitable for transition to DS-Plus. DS-Plus aims to support children in the transition into a mainstream classroom. EI professionals from the EI centre will work with the child in his/her preschool for an average of 2 to 4 hours per week, co-teaching the child alongside the preschool teacher. 

¹This is a framework comprise a standard combination of tools used to assess children in EI services, at entry and exit, and periodically throughout the programme.

Table 1: Overview of the Early Intervention Programme for Infants & Children (EIPIC) and Development Support Plus (DS-Plus) programmes

The EIPIC Under-2s and DS-Plus programmes have been implemented across all 21 centres in phases since July 2019. For more information on the implementation of these two programmes at the EI centres, please refer to the Annex.

SG Enable provides referrals to government-funded EI centres in Singapore, based on parent’s preferred choice of EI centre. The EI centre will assess your child periodically to determine the suitable programme for them as well as the appropriate intervention goals and strategies.

Who is Eligible?

The Early Intervention Programme for Infants & Children (EIPIC) are for children who are:

• From birth to 6 years old²;
• Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents;
• Assessed by a paediatrician³ to be at risk of a developmental, intellectual, sensory or physical disability, or a combination of disabilities; and
• Not concurrently enrolled in any other ECDA-funded EI programmes (i.e. DS-LS, DS-Plus programmes).

Meet other specific programme criteria as per Table 1.

²Please see Table 1 for the respective age criteria of the specific EIPIC and DS-PLUS programmes. To ensure meaningful intervention for the children, please note that children aged 6 years old and above can only be referred to EIPIC until 1 March annually, unless the child has an approved P1 deferment application from the Ministry of Education (MOE). 

³The paediatrician should be registered with the Singapore Medical Council.

How to Apply?

Please have a doctor at any polyclinic refer your child for assessment at the Department of Child Development (DCD) at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) or Child Development Unit (CDU) at National University Hospital (NUH). The hospital will recommend EIPIC if your child is assessed to be suitable. Alternatively, you may approach a private paediatrician for assessment and recommendation for EIPIC.

Once your child has been assessed suitable, the hospital or private paediatrician will submit the application to SG Enable upon your consent.

Submission of applications to SG Enable by Doctors or Medical Social Workers (Online or Hard copy)

1. Online submission (Recommended)
   Log into Social Service Net - Enabling Services (SSNet-ES) using your CorpPass
   
   

   or

2. Hard copy submission
   Download the application form, print and send together with the required documents
   

By Email
CD.services@sgenable.sg

Please take note that applications received via the following modes (i.e. by post or fax) will take a longer processing time due to the circuit breaker measures where all staff are working from home.

By Post
SG Enable - Child Disability Service
20 Lengkok Bahru
#01-01
Singapore 159053

Upon receiving the referral, SG Enable will contact you to provide you the information to help you make an informed decision on your choice on EI Centre.

Your selected EI Centre will contact you within two weeks of referral to arrange an interview and assessment of your child.

Enrolment into a suitable programme at the preferred centre is subject to the availability of vacancies at the centre and approval of the respective centre management.

Application Processing Time

Upon receiving the completed EIPIC referral forms from the hospital or private paediatrician, SG Enable will contact you within 10 working days.

More Information

To learn more about the organizations that participate in EIPIC, please download the following:

• A Guide to EIPIC (PDF)
• EIPIC Fees Matrix for Singapore Citizens (PDF)
• EIPIC Fees Matrix for Permanent Residents (PDF)

To enhance the affordability of EI services, MSF has broadened the income criteria for means-tested subsidies and lower fee caps for these services. Fees for EIPIC have been revised downward since 1 April 2019. For more information on the enhancements to affordability for EI services, please refer to MSF’s Press Release here. Parents may also consider EI programmes at selected private intervention centres and apply for the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children – P (EIPIC-P) scheme.

For more information about the Early Intervention Programme for Infants & Children (EIPIC) and Development Support Plus (DS-Plus) programmes, please refer to the following documents:

• Frequently Asked Questions
• EIPIC Programme and the role of Parents/Caregivers
• DS-Plus Programme and the role of Parents/Caregivers

Have additional enquiries? Contact SG Enable or call 1800-8585-885.