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Child Poverty

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 January 2019

Tuesday, 15 January 2019

Questions (982, 983, 984)

John Curran

Question:

982. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of the evaluation of the ABC programme. [54351/18]

View answer

John Curran

Question:

983. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to publish a summary of the data collected as part of the evaluation of the ABC programme to date. [54352/18]

View answer

John Curran

Question:

984. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the nature of data and factors being studied as part of the ABC programme evaluation process. [54353/18]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 982 to 984, inclusive, together.

The ABC Programme was established in 2013 in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government to adopt an area-based approach to tackling child poverty. It was designed as a time-bound, co-funding agreement led by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) in conjunction with The Atlantic Philanthropies (Atlantic), originally in the amount of €29.7m for the period 2013-2017. Additional funding was secured by DCYA to extend the programme in 2018.The ABC Programme is being delivered in 13 areas of disadvantage in Ireland, led by local consortia who co-ordinate the planning and delivery of programmes and services in their area. In each ABC area, a lead agency oversees the programme at a local level.

The aim of the ABC Programme was to test and evaluate prevention and early intervention approaches to improve outcomes for children and families in areas of disadvantage.

A national evaluation of the ABC Programme was undertaken by the Centre for Effective Services (CES). Data was collected locally, at the area-level in order to assess the effectiveness of the totality of the investment with regard to the main outcomes the programme aimed to address: Improved child health and development; Improved children’s learning and Improved parenting. The evaluation also looked at the impact of the ABC Programme on local service delivery, and at the costs associated with the delivery of the programme.

Overall, the national evaluation found evidence that the ABC Programme made a positive contribution to:

1. Improved outcomes for children and families

2. Changes for practitioners and service managers participating in the Programme

3. Changes to service planning and delivery.

A range of qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed for the purposes of evaluation. These included outcomes data collected from the ABC areas, as well as data from surveys and interviews with practitioners, programme managers and other stakeholders. Given the local nature of data collected, there are currently no plans to publish the data sets.

The national evaluation was completed in October 2018 and a full report and summary report has been produced and is available on my Department’s website and the CES website. Local areas will also receive a poster and brochure set giving details of the outcome of the programme in their local area and the overall national findings.

My Department is working to ensure that we take full account of the learning from all the interventions across the 13 ABC sites, and from the national evaluation, in order to inform the delivery of prevention and early intervention initiatives and to achieve our shared goal of improving the lives of children and families throughout Ireland.

Question No. 985 answered with Question No. 981.
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