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Area Based Childhood Programme

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 December 2019

Thursday, 5 December 2019

Questions (355)

Fergus O'Dowd

Question:

355. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when the national evaluation of the ABC programme will be completed; if an interim report or update has been provided to her; if she will publish same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51068/19]

View answer

Written answers

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 the What Works website and the CES website.

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