Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 April 2015
447. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which the Area-Based Childhood Programme 2013-2016 continues to be monitored and implemented by his Department, with particular reference to targeting the specific needs of children, as anticipated by the programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14912/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme (2013-2016) is an innovative prevention and early intervention initiative consisting of committed funding for an area-based approach to helping to improve outcomes for children and thereby impacting on child poverty.
The ABC Programme targets joint investment of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and The Atlantic Philanthropies of €29.7m in evidence-informed interventions to improve the long-term outcomes for children and families living in areas of disadvantage. It aims to break “the cycle of child poverty within areas where it is most deeply entrenched and where children are most disadvantaged, through integrated and effective services and interventions” in the areas of child development, child well-being, parenting and educational disadvantage.
As and from 2015, all approved sites are under contract and operational.
The ABC Project Team was set up to oversee the implementation of the ABC Programme. The Project Team is chaired by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and includes representatives from seven other Government Departments, its co-funders The Atlantic Philanthropies, Health Service Executive, Tusla Child and Family Agency as well as the two managing agencies of the Programme, Pobal and the Centre for Effective Services (CES).
CES is responsible for designing and managing the evaluation of the ABC Programme. It is guided and supported in the planning and implementation of the evaluation by the Expert Advisory Group (EAG). The overall approach to the evaluation has been agreed with the Expert Advisory Group. The evaluation of the ABC Programme will adopt a shared measurement framework, identifying common measures to be collected across all ABC sites on core outcomes and implementation processes.
An Interim report synthesising and summarising the aggregated learning from the ABC programme evaluation will be produced mid-2016 and the final evaluation report will be produced in 2018.
An ABC Evaluation Group has been established with representatives from each of the ABC Areas, which will provide ongoing support and advice to CES on the evaluation of the programme with regard to Area and organisational contexts, resources and capacities. This Evaluation Group will aid in identifying evaluation issues and potential practical solutions to these.
