Special Education Transport

You must check whether the client qualifies for Disability Allowance. If the client is entitled to a Disability Allowance it must be granted before you assess whether the client qualifies for Temporary Additional Support.

The client may have allowable health and disability costs for Temporary Additional Support where they do not qualify for Disability Allowance because:

• they do not meet the Disability Allowance income limit or
• their health or disability condition will last less than 6 months or
• they are certain refugees, protected persons or residence applicants

Allowable costs for Temporary Additional Support can include additional travel costs that a person has because of their special education needs. These additional travel costs can be incurred in two main areas.

The Ministry of Education Special Education School Transport Assistance Policy aims to provide transport to and from school for students identified through Special Education 2000 as having special education needs. The following outlines the two main criteria:

Special needs transport assistance is available for students who require it for safety reasons, to enable them to attend their nearest school, or the nearest school that is able to meet their special need. For example when:

• the student has an intellectual disability that impedes their ability to go to and from school safely
• the student has a health condition that impedes their ability to go to and from school safely or
• there are significant safety risks for the student or for others during the passage to and from school

Some specific examples under the safety category are:

• transport to and from a women's refuge
• transport to a centre for extra support and
• transport to and from school when this was the recommendation within a multi-element support plan within the Behaviour Education Support Team framework

Special needs transport assistance is available for students who require it for mobility reasons, to enable them to attend their nearest school, or the nearest school that is able to meet their special need. For example when:

• wheel chairs or other specialist equipment, must accompany the student
• the student is unable (for mobility reasons) to independently make their way to school

There are no other criteria aside from these two. For example transport to and from school cannot be provided from this funding, for psycho-social or social reasons. Assistance is not available from this fund to transport students to meet parenting order or access requirements.

The provision of transport assistance is not dependent on any factors other than the criteria. For example, the financial circumstances of the family are not a determining factor in regard to the eligibility for transport assistance.