‘it takes a village..’ Innovative, early intervention cross sector collaboration. Kerry Thomas Gateway Family Services Blue Mountains, NSW 1

Background Local Answers funding stream- FAHCSIA Early Intervention focus Innovation & Research 2

The Evidence.. 1. The quality of Children’s relationships with their parents and caregivers plays a vital role in their development and well-being. Research indicates that Early Childhood Education plays a significant role in providing caring and stimulating environments for young children. In addition, Early Childhood Services play a significant support and information role for parents of young children. Nepean Families First Network Report “Understanding Needs of Parents and Carers”

2. Early experience is all about relationships. ¨ Nurturing & responsive relationships build healthy brains. ¨ It is the relationship that the young child has with their caregiver(s) that literally sculpts the brain and determines future development ¨ When protective relationships are not provided for children, this can interfere with their social, emotional and cognitive development. ¨ When children are provided with loving & caring experiences the connections in the brain for feeling good and learning are strengthened. Professor Frank Oberklaid, Director, Centre for Community Child Health Early Brain Development: Implications for community development work with families The Australian Childhood Foundation 4

5 3. What Directors and workers in early childhood services told us about their interactions with parents and children.

What we did.. ‘it takes a village’ provides a workable model that: builds the capacity of workers in early childhood services to recognize and respond more effectively to the needs of vulnerable children & families. promotes an efficient & personalized interface between Families, Early Childhood Services, Health & Community Services facilitates a smooth entry to the range of services in the community that provide extra, specialized support for vulnerable children and families 6

How did we do this Step 1 Talk to early childhood services Step 2 Spend a quality amount of time with Early Childhood services Step 3 Partner with early childhood services Step 4 Plan with Early childhood services 7

Recognizing the strengths of each sector 8

9 Family Strengths Having fun time Healthy food Early Childhood Centre Strengths Positive relationships with children & parents Trust Safety Practice wisdom Professional Development Links with community Time Listening Skills Teaching Love Hugs Praise Playing games Comfort Boundaries Sharing stories Safety Community Strengths Responding to needs Sharing skills & resource s Advocacy Listening Social justice Time Creating networks It takes a village

ITAV builds ‘Villages of Care’ 10 And no villages looked exactly the same..

11 Family Support Services Early Intervention Family Support Work Project Mobile Hub Project Generalist Family Support Work DoCS Brighter Futures Early Intervention Program Emergency Relief Financial Assistance Family Links Project Parent Groups/Workshops ‘Jigsaw” Kids Counselling ‘it takes a village’ Early Childhood Services Families On-site counselling & support Mentoring Information Professional Development On site staff training Referrals Parent groups Staff & parent information evenings Worker “drop-in” visits at children’s services “Kids Skills” workshops Parents newsletter

New resources Noticing Change in Children Good Starts Can Last a Lifetime 12

Outcomes Significant in the skills and confidence of EC workers in noticing and responding to vulnerable children and their families in workers understanding of the local service network and how to access it in parents accessing parenting support and allied services 13

What Changed for workers 80% of staff reported a significant increase in confidence and esteem in approaching parents about issues relating to their child 100% of staff reported improved access to professional development opportunities and learning 70% of staff reported increased access to and knowledge of referral pathways for vulnerable families 75% reported increased access to other health and community services. 14

this project provided affordable and accessible training to staff at convenient times and locations. Staff and families know that helpful advice and support is only a phone call away” (OOSH Director) ‘”TAV has given us a support service and worker to call upon; a person whom we know and trust, who can support us in our work with vulnerable families.” (Pre School Director) 15

Critical factors to success Solid research base leading to reasonable hypothesis of what could work Action Research Knowledge of the local service sector Respect for the skills of EC sector Understanding of & respect for the constraints facing the EC sector Building relationships of trust with EC workers Continually reviewing project outcomes & achievements Adapting practice 16

Broad application... for collaborative partnerships in early intervention to early childhood sector to early school years sector 17

Beyond the pilot Testing transferability of model Embedding Noticing Change in Children modules in EC training 18

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