URIS Manitoba: What the Unified Referral and Intake System Means for Your Child

Most parents navigating Manitoba's special education system eventually hear about Level 2 and Level 3 funding — the categorical grants tied to a student's disability designation. But there's a subset of students whose needs extend beyond what the standard funding model covers: students who require complex, life-sustaining medical procedures during the school day. For these families, the relevant term is URIS — the Unified Referral and Intake System.

If your child requires tube feeding, tracheostomy care, catheterization, or other medically complex procedures while at school, understanding the URIS process is not optional. It's the mechanism that determines whether the school receives the resources to accommodate your child safely — and whether those resources are actually used for that purpose.

What URIS Is

The Unified Referral and Intake System is a provincial framework designed to coordinate complex service delivery for children whose needs cross multiple systems — education, health, and community services. Within the education context, URIS Group A specifically refers to students who require life-sustaining medical procedures that must be carried out by trained personnel during the school day.

This is a separate category from the general Level 2 and Level 3 block funding that covers most special education students. Unlike the block grant system introduced in 2017/2018 — where most Level 2 and Level 3 allocations are pooled at the division level — URIS Group A students still require individualized applications. The provincial Funding Review Team reviews these applications specifically because the needs involved are so specialized and the costs so significant that they cannot be absorbed into a general block grant.

This is one of the explicit exceptions to Manitoba's shift away from student-specific funding. URIS Group A applications must be submitted by the school division on behalf of the individual student, and the funding is intended to support that student's specific medical needs in the educational setting.

Why This Matters for Parents

The shift to block funding created a problem for many families: their child's diagnosis might technically qualify for Level 2 or Level 3 support, but the school division has discretion over how it allocates pooled funds. This means a student meeting ASD2 or MH2 criteria might not receive a dedicated EA, because the division has spread those resources across the entire student population.

URIS Group A funding does not work the same way. Because it requires a student-specific application and is reviewed individually, there is a clearer line between the funding approved and the supports provided to the specific child. This does not mean schools always use these funds appropriately — advocacy is still required — but it changes the nature of the advocacy conversation. You can ask the school to demonstrate specifically how the URIS-approved funding is being deployed for your child.

If your child has medically complex needs and the school has not mentioned URIS, or has not submitted a URIS application, you should ask directly: is my child's situation assessed for URIS Group A eligibility, and if not, why not?

What a URIS Application Involves

A URIS Group A application is a coordinated, multi-system document. It is not something the school can complete in isolation. The application typically involves:

• Detailed medical documentation from the child's physician or specialist describing the procedures required, their frequency, and the training required for school personnel to perform them safely
• A formal health care plan developed in collaboration with the child's medical team
• Coordination between the school division, the regional health authority, and family services
• Documentation of the student's current educational placement and SSP

The complexity of this process is partly why some school divisions don't proactively initiate it. It requires administrative effort across multiple systems. If your child's school has not submitted a URIS application for a student who clearly meets the criteria, the school is not off the hook simply because the paperwork is burdensome.

Coordination Across Systems

URIS students often have needs that sit at the intersection of education and healthcare. The coordination challenge is real: who is responsible for training school staff on a specific medical procedure? Who bears the cost of the consumable medical supplies used during the school day? What happens when a trained EA leaves and the replacement has not been trained?

Manitoba's framework requires that these questions be addressed through the multi-system planning process rather than left to the parent to resolve. The school division cannot simply tell a family that the medically complex student cannot attend school because no trained staff member is available. That would be a denial of educational programming, which is prohibited under Regulation 155/2005.

If a school is using the complexity of medical needs as a reason to restrict your child's school hours or prevent attendance, that is the kind of situation where the Manitoba Human Rights Commission becomes relevant. A school division cannot deny a student access to education because providing that access requires them to coordinate with the health system.

The Wraparound Connection

For students whose needs involve both medical complexity and behavioral or mental health complexity — particularly students who may qualify for EBD3 (Level 3 Emotionally/Behaviourally Disordered) funding — there is an overlap with the wraparound planning process. EBD3 applications require a Coordinated Multisystem Plan involving outside agencies including Family Services or Justice. URIS Group A applications for medically complex students also involve multi-agency coordination.

In practice, a student can have both a URIS designation and an EBD designation, requiring both types of specialized applications. These are not mutually exclusive categories.

If your child falls into this overlap — significant medical needs alongside significant behavioral challenges — the advocacy complexity increases substantially. The school division must navigate multiple application streams, multiple agencies, and multiple funding sources. Parents in this situation often benefit from having a clear, written timeline of what each application is, who is responsible for submitting it, and when it is due.

What to Ask the School

If your child has medically complex needs and you're not sure whether URIS has been considered:

1. Has the school division assessed whether my child meets URIS Group A criteria?
2. If yes, has an application been submitted to the provincial Funding Review Team? What is the status of that application?
3. If no, what is the rationale for not submitting one?
4. How is the school currently funding the supports required for my child's medical needs during the school day?

Get these answers in writing. If the division has received URIS Group A funding for your child, you are entitled to understand how that funding is being used. Block grant dynamics don't apply here — student-specific applications should produce student-specific accountability.

The Manitoba Special Ed Advocacy Playbook includes guidance on both the funding application process and how to document and escalate situations where the school is not meeting its obligations for medically complex students. If you're navigating this for the first time, having the regulatory language and escalation framework laid out clearly makes a significant difference in what you're able to ask — and demand — at the school level.

A Note on Privacy and School Records

Parents of URIS students often have detailed medical documentation that they share with the school. Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), you have the right to access all records the school division holds about your child — including internal communications about your child's medical needs, staffing arrangements, and funding applications. If you suspect the school is managing your child's situation in ways that don't align with what they've told you, a targeted FIPPA request can surface internal records that clarify the picture.

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