Education Support Funding Program (ESFP)

​​​Purpose

The Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety​ (Child Safety) provides the Department of Education (DoE) with targeted funding for the Education Support Funding Program (ESFP) to enhance the learning, wellbeing and educational outcomes for eligible students in care to assist with closing the educational gap between these students and their same age peers.

Under the distribution model, ESFP funds are distributed directly to schools each term based on an assessment of factors relevant to a student to determine a prioritisation score. The factors are identified through OneSchool and information provided by Child Safety. These include:

• student year level (recognising greater vulnerability at key transition points)
• Index of Community Socio-educational Advantage (ICSEA) remoteness
• First Nation's status
• Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)—level of adjustment
• placement type (e.g., foster care, residential care)
• enrolment mobility
• detention transition.
  

Central office distributes ESFP funds based on funding levels which align with prioritisation scores.

All eligible students in care are required to have an Education Support Plan (ESP) completed at least every 12 months. An ESP identifies a student in care's educational goals and the strategies and resources needed to assist the student to achieve these goals.

Duration of program

Ongoing in accordance with the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between DoE and Child Safety. The MoU is available for departmental staff on OnePortal.

Eligibility

A student is eligible for funding support through the ESFP when they meet the ESP eligibility criteria. Activities funded are considered to be an enhancement and not a replacement for existing resourcing entitlements that can be obtained through school programs and resources.

Note: Not all students in care who are required to have an ESP will require or be eligible for financial support through the ESFP.

Expenditure guidelines

Schools should follow the processes set out in the Students in Care guidelines. More information is available for departmental staff on OnePortal.

ESFP funds are provided to schools as revenue under cost centre 1017 and must be expended under expenditure cost centre 2015. Regular monitoring of these cost centres is carried out by central and regional offices.

Allocation of funds

ESFP funds are distributed by central office directly to schools each term under the distribution model. With the exception of accessing contingency funding, schools do not need to apply for ESFP funds. Contingency funding is discussed further below.

As part of the distribution model, regions will be provided with a funding report each term, indicating which students and schools received funding for monitoring and review.

As per the students in care guidelines and in accordance with the MoU, DoE schools are responsible for ensuring all ESFP funding distributed is only used to support students in care and is directly linked to a student's (or group of students’) ESP. Upon receiving ESFP funding, schools should review any existing ESPs and update accordingly to reflect how the funding will be used to support the specific educational needs of the student.

ESFP funding can only be used on services or resources that directly enhance the learning and wellbeing for students in care as well as maximise learning days. ESFP funding can be spent on the identified student or any other eligible student/s in care enrolled at the school, at the discretion of the principal.

Regions are responsible for monitoring school usage of ESFP funds to confirm the expenditure aligns with the MoU, guidelines and ESPs.

A component of the ESFP funding is used by DoE central office to provide program management support. In addition, in accordance with the MoU, ESFP funds are held by central office for a dedicated A07 Principal Education Officer, students in care position for each DoE region. An administration levy (up to 7% of the regional allocation) can be used by regions to support the management of the program and the development and implementation of improved data collection and reporting systems to meet the MoU reporting requirements.

Please contact your regional office for further information.

Contingency funding

Each DoE regional office is allocated a portion of the ESFP funding each semester for contingency funding. Schools can apply to their region for contingency funding through the approved application form. Contingency applications are to be assessed by the region using the approved contingency application process. Further information is available on OnePortal for departmental staff.

The regional office contingency allocation can only be used for contingency applications. This allocation cannot be used to fund management of the program, in addition to the administration levy, in accordance with the MoU.

Schools may apply for contingency funds to support a student in care who requires unanticipated support where there are no other funds available to support the student. This funding reserve is discretionary and dependant on available funds.

Payment details

Payments are made directly to schools each term, noting that timelines and proportions will change from year to year based on factors including the school calendar, the total ESFP budget and how the methodology calculates each funding level. The amount of funding available in each level will adjust each term as the number of students in care fluctuates and the number of students in each funding level changes.

Contingency funding is assessed and paid on an ad-hoc basis by regional office.

Data requirements

Student in care data is collected through OneSchool and is used for corporate reporting purposes. OneSchool is also used for recording relevant information relating to ESFP funding such as ESFP approvals, invoices, receipts and delivery dockets etc. These records are saved as attachments to the ESP. Instructions for departmental staff on how to upload funding documents are available in OneSchool Help.

Additionally, the MoU provides for exchange of data and information in relation to students in care. Data exchange is currently conducted 4 times each year by DoE and Child Safety central offices. OneSchool and Child Safety data is exchanged, interrogated and any anomalies are provided to the regions (in both agencies) to follow up. This involves regional staff contacting schools to update/amend OneSchool student profiles as required.

Recoupment process

In the event that ESFP funds (including funds distributed through contingency applications) cannot be spent by a school on students in care, central office will recoup these funds at the end of the year, as per the School Appropriation and Payment Application (SAPA)​ payment calendar, and re-distribute the funds to ensure ESFP is allocated equitably for students in care and in accordance with the MoU. Any unexpended funds from distributions to schools in terms 3 and 4 will not be considered for recoupment in that calendar year.

Regions will not recoup ESFP funds from schools.

In line with the annual acquittal process at the end of the financial year, any unexpended funds in regional ESFP cost centres will be retained by central office and redistributed, subject to Executive Leadership Team (ELT)​ approval of deferrals.

Further information

Further information in relation to ESP eligibility and students in care is available on OnePortal for department staff.

Contact

Central Queensland
Phone: (07) 4842 8300

Darling Downs and South West
Phone: (07) 4616 3771

Far North Queensland
Phone: (07) 4037 3822

Metropolitan North
Phone: (07) 3634 0574

Metropolitan South
Phone: (07) 3028 8015

North Coast
Phone: (07) 5352 9245

North Queensland
Phone: (07) 4758 3222

South East
Phone: (07) 5656 6688​