Written Answers. - Family Support Services.
Willie Penrose
Ceist:
91
Mr. Penrose
asked the
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs
when the family services pilot programme will be developed and expanded in view of the commitment given in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[10531/00]
Pilot projects to enhance information services for families are under way in three local offices of my Department – Waterford, Cork and Finglas in Dublin. The projects build on the one-stop shop concept with the aim of providing improved access to information for families through the social welfare local offices.
The overall objective of the family services project is to provide a high quality information service about the range of supports available to families from State agencies and from the community and voluntary sector with a particular emphasis on the services available locally. The expanded range of family services on which information is available includes marriage counselling and marriage preparation programmes, bereavement counselling and support services, information about parenting issues, including local childcare services where this information is available, and the State family mediation service. The latest information technology will be used to support the family services project.
Within the pilot project an enhanced programme of support is being offered to a small group of customers with complex needs, for example, very young lone mothers, other parents rearing children without the support of a partner and dependent spouses in households with children depending on social welfare payments. It is hoped that the additional support involving individual attention, customised information and enhanced access – an appointment is set up where this is possible – to services and supports which would assist the family will enhance the capacity of those in the most difficult family circumstances to improve their personal situations.
The family services project is the subject of ongoing evaluation during the pilot phase which will continue throughout this year. The evaluation will identify the resource and management issues to be addressed in the provision of this family focused service, assess its effectiveness in meeting the needs of families and its potential to improve local co-ordination of community support for families. The outcome of the evaluation will inform proposals for the progressive expansion of the successful elements of the pilot programme over the period 2000-06 for which the Government has provided £12 million in the national development plan.
The project draws on the Government's "pro-families" approach to the development of policies and services for families, the recommendations of the Commission on the Family, and the strategy statement of my Department which commits the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs to promote policies which protect and support families including the development of service delivery to address the different needs of customers and the creation of stronger links with partner agencies and voluntary organisations at local level.
