Report – back Seminar “Early Intervention” in Family and Pre-school Children Services

Report – back Seminar“Early Intervention” in Family and

Pre-school Children Services

- “Actualization of the Spirits of IFSC – Learning from the Australian Experience”

By Angela ChiuCentre Supervisor

Western District IFSCThe Hong Kong Catholic Marriage Advisory Council

20.3.2006

1. The Australian National Agenda for Early Childhood

• Government commitment to developing a National Agenda for Early Childhood

• Consultation showed broad support for development of a National Agenda for Early Childhood across the areas:– Early child and maternal health– Early learning and care– Child friendly communities– Supporting families and parenting– Improving outcomes for Indigenous children– Working together

What is the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy?

Four Initiatives:1. Communities for Children - $142.4m2. Invest To Grow - $70.5m3. Local Answers - $137m4. Choice and Flexibility in Child Care - $125.3m

Communities for Children

• 45 sites (communities) across Australia• $142.4m over four years of funding per

site• Aims to help young children, their families

and the broader community.

Five priority areas:

1. Healthy young families2. Support for families and parents3. Early learning and development4. Child friendly communities5. Family and children’s services work

effectively as a system

Key features:

A new way for Government to provide funding to communities:

• Place based• Community driven• Building community and community capacity• Top-down, Bottom-up• Collaborative governance / tight-loose control• Early intervention, prevention and promotion

Role of Facilitating Partners

1. Bring the community together to talk about local issues that affect young children;

2. Establish a Communities for Children Committee;

3. Engage community leaders;4. Engage existing service providers;5. Promote, integrate & coordinate effort;

Role of Facilitating Partners (con’t)

6. Build partnerships with local business;7. Work with early childhood experts;8. Manage funding; and9. Report to Government.

Examples of activities and services

• Home visiting• Early learning and literacy• Playgroups• Parenting programs and family support

services• Boosting social inclusion and peer support

for parents of young children.• Child nutrition programs

Three major components:

Family Counselling Unit

Family Resource Unit

Treatment-oriented

Supporting families at risk (practical, emotional & training sup

port)

Open, development & preventive

Family Support Unit

Integrated Family Service Centre (IFSC)

2. Overview of IFSC - HK

1. Objectives– To provide range of preventive, development,

supportive, remedial services to enhance functions of individuals and families

– To preserve and strengthen family as a unit …build up supportive/caring community

– To identify problem early, provide early interventions to assist people in disadvantaged situations so as to help them to cope with crisis, regain self-resilience and restore functioning

Overview of IFSC – HK (con’t)

2. Principles– Accessibility– Early Identification– Integration– Partnership

Overview of IFSC – HK (con’t)

3. Spirit of IFSC– Child-centered– Family-focused– Community-based

3. Actualization of the Spirits of IFSC

• Early Intervention– Early identification of needs– Early intervention in terms of children’s early

years– Fill in service group of children services– Fulfill the spirit of child-centered– Efforts paid on enhancing parental functions

for the benefit of children

Actualization of the Spirits of IFSC (con’t)

• Community Based– “It takes a community to raise a child”– Creating a caring community for children with

different stakeholders in the community, e.g. Child Care Institutions, ICYC, schools and local peoples, etc.

– Community Education and Community Participation