Robert Troy
Question:607. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when she intends to publish the parenting support strategy. [25892/13]
View answerTuesday, 28 May 2013
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Written answers
The family continues to occupy a central and vitally important place in Irish Society, and the quality of family relationships, and factors within the home, impact hugely on children's development. We are lucky that in Ireland we have generally positive parental–child relationships. For example, the ‘State of Nation’s Children’ Report which I published earlier this year indicates that 82% of children aged 10-17 reported that they find it easy to talk to their mother when something is really bothering them.
A further report from last year by Dr. Elizabeth Nixon, based on Growing Up in Ireland data and focusing on ‘How Families Matter for Children’s Social and Emotional Well-Being’, highlighted just how instrumental parents and families are for child well-being and this cannot be emphasised enough. It also highlighted how parenting can have just as great an impact on a child’s life chances as family structure, income or social class. Put simply, good parenting is crucial for children’s outcomes. That is why this Government and I have committed to supporting children, parents and families.
The HSE Child & Family Services, along with the existing Family Support Agency, fund a variety of programmes to support families and parenting. The National Educational Welfare Board, which comes under my Department’s remit, provides funding to the Teen Parents Support Programme. These various bodies will shortly be incorporated into the new Child and Family Agency. At the heart of the Agency will be an enhanced focus on early intervention and family support; and this will be greatly supported by the inclusion of the nationwide network of 106 Family Resource Centres. I believe that establishing this new Agency presents us with a very exciting opportunity to consolidate and develop effective, evidence-based parenting and family supports.
In addition, a range of parenting programmes, including home visitation services, have been introduced under the Prevention and Early Intervention Programme which has been funded by my Department and Atlantic Philanthropies. Evaluations to date of the three sites in Tallaght, Ballymun and Darndale have shown that parenting programmes can have a positive impact in tackling the early onset of behavioural and emotional problems among children as well as reducing parental stress and improving parental well-being. Building on the critical learning emerging from the Prevention and Early Intervention Programme I hope to see effective, evidence-based parenting supports being included in the new Area Based Approach to Child Poverty which is currently being established on foot of funding announced in Budget 2013,
The work of the new Child & Family Agency and the Area Based Approach to Child Poverty, as well as broader policy and programme delivery across Government, will be advised by ongoing work on the Government’s Children’s & Young People’s Policy Framework and Ireland’s first-ever National Early Years Strategy, work on both of which is at an advanced stage. The Early Years Strategy has been a specific priority for me and I see the Strategy as providing an innovative and dynamic blueprint for the future development of Ireland’s Early Years sector aimed at providing a coherent approach to seeking to improve the lives of children from birth to age six. Policy considerations relating to supports for families and parenting will be considered in the context of the ongoing preparation of these strategies.
In the case of the Early Years Strategy, I have established an Expert Advisory Group and this group has had specific and focused meetings on the issue of parental support including presentations by the Centre of Effective Services who have shared the learning from their evaluations of early intervention and prevention programmes and the work of the Special Interest Group on Parenting which they have established and facilitated.