Program Unit Funding

The Program Unit Funding Grant is funding designated by Alberta Education to provide evidence-based Early Intervention Programming for children under the age of 6 who have developmental delays.

For decades, PUF grants were ‘protected’ from re-allocation to other grades in school divisions. Those protections were lifted in March 2020. As a Private ECS Service Provider, our school authority, Airdrie Foundation 4 Early Intervention, is still able to access PUF grants where 100% of the grant is used to provide early intervention programming.

Eligibility criteria for PUF funding is established by the Department of Education

All children must be identified and added to the PUF Grant Application by Sept 30th.

Approval is based on professional diagnosis and supporting documentation. Levels of funding are ranked by diagnosis, therefore, specific diagnostic documentation is required as part of the grant application.

Funding is allocated to the PUF program provider.

Not every child needs the same program so long as every child’s needs are met.

Children must be between 2.8 years of age and no older than 6.0 years of age on September 1st of the given school year.
Professional documentation indicates a severe delay that will have a significant impact on the child’s ability to fully participate in a typical community preschool/kindergarten setting.
The child is attending an education program and it is evident that delays impact participation and functioning.
Children are eligible, potentially, for 3 years of PUF support.

Once an eligible child is added to our PUF Grant Application, specific needs are identified and an Individualized Program Plan (IPP) is drafted to establish priorities, goals and strategies to support learning.

Members of the learning support team includes parents, the classroom teacher and special needs facilitator(s). Depending on the specific needs, the support team could also include a Speech Language Pathologist, Behaviour Strategist, Occupational Therapist, and Physical Therapist.

All members of the Support Team collaborate on a regular basis to discuss goals and strategies outlined in the IPP. 3 times per year, a formal review of the IPP will occur with the family and members of the Support Team.

Identification and prioritization of goals is conducted with parent collaboration.

Family is asked to attend 3 meetings per year to address Individual Program Planning.

As of March 2020, Alberta Education’s funding model no longer prioritizes family oriented programming