3. Service mapping

3.1 Method
3.2 Results
3.3 Summary and discussion

This section of the report provides an overview of the baseline service mapping component of the process evaluation. The aim was to establish a baseline measure of the range of services and initiatives in place prior to, or early in the implementation of the local community strategic plan in each CfC site. The analysis was based on data collected from a variety of sources including service directories, planning documents, previous mapping exercises and a short questionnaire sent to organisations in the local area. The service mapping will be repeated towards the end of 2007 to build a picture of types of interventions provided by CfC and determine changes in the range and type of services available in the site.

3.1 Method

In December 2005, the baseline service mapping questionnaire was distributed via email to the 45 Project Managers in each Facilitating Partner organisation. The questionnaire asked for baseline data concerning services specifically for children 0-5 years and their families operating within the CfC site. Project managers were also asked to identify any service gaps as a result of their service mapping and to list any Local, State or Commonwealth Government initiatives currently operating in the area.

Analysis of the data supplied by the 45 sites revealed significant inconsistencies in the manner in which the questionnaires had been completed. For example, some respondents included venues that did not deliver specific services to young children and their families, such as retail outlets, RSL clubs and swimming pools. In other cases whole sections of the service network appeared to be missing. Some sites, for example, listed no general practitioners (GPs) and others no education services.

To get a more accurate reflection of the service network, a second round of data collection was conducted. The services listed for each site were sorted and coded into new categories. All data were categorised in the same way to ensure comparability across the 45 sites. Inappropriate services were removed and the gaps in the data provided were highlighted. From this re-categorisation process, a very specific service typology was developed. This typology took into account the kinds of services being reported in the sites and accommodated the different nature of services and the different roles of organisations in each area. For example, many of the service maps included organised networks that did not deliver services on the ground but played a crucial role in the sector and thus needed to be reflected in the mapping.

The new typology (see Table 4) allowed for meaningful comparison between the sites and identification of any gaps in the data that could be checked with Project Managers. Service maps were re-sent with the new typology for Project Managers to check how accurately the initial data reflected the service network in their site. Project Managers were asked to add any services that had been omitted from the original mapping exercise.

The returned data varied considerably between sites. It is not known how much of the variation is a result of differences in the nature and number of services in each site and how much was due to reporting bias or error.

Although the number of services varied between sites, the number of services was more consistent in the revised service mapping than in the original service maps. When FPs supplied the original Baseline Service Mapping data, the mean number of reported services in each site was 80. After this data was categorised and FPs revised their original spreadsheets, the average reported number of services in each site rose to 97 (a 10% increase). There was a dramatic increase in the number of services reported by some sites. In one site, for example, the number of reported services rose from 38 to 227 when they revised their data (a 493% increase). The increase was less marked in many other sites, but almost all reported a larger number of services in the revised service mapping. Some reported fewer services as initial data had included venues or services not specific to young children and their families.

Table 4: Revised Service Mapping Typology sent to FPs
Service Category	Service type
1. Education	1.1 Early education services e.g. - Preschool Long day care Occasional care Playgroups Story time Toy libraries 1.2 Primary schools 1.3 Other e.g. - Social group activities (social activities for home educating families) Community early literacy programs Adult literacy programs
2. Population groups with higher risk of disadvantage	2.1 Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Including all services for CALD families - education, health, support services, supportive networks 2.2 Indigenous Including all services for Indigenous families - education, health, support services, supportive networks 2.3 Disability Including all disability services for 0-5 year olds and their families- education, health, support services, supportive networks
3. General child & family	3.1 Community hubs e.g. Community centres Neighbourhood centres Neighbourhood houses 3.2 Community development e.g. Community development organisations Local government community development officers 3.3 Information services e.g. - Info resources on family planning, sexual health, sexual abuse, child safety etc. Referrals 3.4 Welfare e.g. - Centrelink 3.5 Counselling 3.6 Early intervention 3.7 Family support e.g. - Single mothers support Women's refuges Domestic violence services Parenting support Fathers groups Young mothers groups 3.8 Child protection 3.9 Other e.g. - Housing Financial advice Advocacy (incl. Legal services, NGO advocacy orgs) Community transport services Employment services etc.
4. Health	4.1 Allied Health e.g. - Speech pathology Physio therapy Occupational therapy etc. 4.2 Child and family health/community health e.g. - Community health centres Health promotion Remote family health care Immunisation Baby clinics Community health strategies Drug & alcohol services 4.3 Dental 4.4 GPs and medical centres 4.5 Hospital 4.6 Maternal health e.g. - Antenatal care Feeding support Maternal & child health nurses 4.7 Mental Health 4.8 Specialist services e.g. - Dermatologists Optometrists Orthodontists
5. Supportive networks, e.g. organisations involved with the planning and development of services	5.1 State Government Departments 5.2 Interagency chairs 5.3 GP Peak bodies 5.4 Childcare peak bodies 5.5 Early years partnerships e.g. Best Start networks etc 5.6 Associations/Committees e.g. - Foster Care QLD Queensland Country Women's Association Education Networks Catholic Education Office Community groups 5.7 Local Councils (Broad category to use where no Community Development Worker contact or specific service is listed)
Venues where no specific service can be listed should be omitted e.g. Swimming pools Leisure centres Masonic Halls RSL Clubs Churches (and Religious associations) Retail outlets, restaurants etc

Table 5: Baseline Service Mapping for selected sites by Service Category^a
Site	1. Education	%	2. Population groups with a higher risk of disadvantage	%	3. General child & family	%	4. Health	%	5. Supportive networks	%	Total
Armadale	66	29	29	13	56	25	54	24	22	10	227
Blacktown	47	30	13	8	25	16	59	38	12	8	156
Brimbank	42	44	25	26	27	28	2	2	0	0	96
Cairns	51	48	16	15	28	26	7	7	5	5	107
Campbelltown	19	28	5	7	22	32	15	22	7	10	68
Dubbo	67	37	28	16	42	23	37	21	6	3	180
East Arnhem	21	37	4	7	10	18	12	21	10	18	57
East Gippsland	87	55	11	7	13	8	39	25	7	5	157
East Kimberley	11	26	8	19	9	21	13	31	1	2	42
Frankston North	33	47	3	4	17	24	15	21	2	3	70
Gladstone	68	34	14	7	38	19	61	31	17	9	198
Greater Dandenong	34	40	13	15	22	26	14	16	3	4	86
Hume/ Broadmeadows	46	41	36	32	16	14	2	2	11	10	111
Inala	32	33	9	9	29	30	18	19	9	9	97
Inner North ACT	41	42	3	3	32	33	17	18	4	4	97
Katherine	47	52	15	17	13	14	9	10	7	8	91
Kingston Loganlea	28	39	9	13	25	35	6	9	3	4	71
Kwinana	28	41	3	4	29	42	6	9	3	4	69
Launceston	22	42	6	11	11	21	9	17	5	9	53
Lismore	41	39	20	19	25	24	14	13	6	6	106
Mirrabooka	35	48	10	14	15	21	8	11	5	7	73
Mt Isa	25	40	11	18	12	19	8	13	6	10	62
Murwillumbah	18	46	5	13	7	18	8	21	1	3	39
North Gold Coast	32	60	0	0	6	11	12	23	3	6	53
Onkaparinga	49	36	7	5	37	27	33	24	9	7	135
Palmerston	26	41	5	8	15	24	16	25	1	2	63
Port Adelaide	46	47	9	9	18	18	16	16	9	9	98
Port Augusta	21	26	24	29	23	28	12	15	2	2	82
Raymond Terrace	15	22	7	10	13	19	21	31	12	18	68
Salisbury	25	46	3	6	13	24	11	20	3	6	55
SE Tasmania	35	38	2	2	23	25	23	25	10	11	93
Shellharbour	53	38	6	4	31	23	40	29	8	6	138
Southern Lakes	41	38	10	9	17	16	35	32	5	5	108
Swan Hill Robinvale	49	38	25	19	25	19	29	23	1	1	129
Townsville	15	22	14	21	25	37	12	18	2	3	68
Total	1316	39	408	12	769	23	693	20	217	6	3403

^aTable includes only revised baseline service mapping data returned by 1 May 2007.
Data from other sites will be added to subsequent reports.
Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding.

3.2 Results

FPs were asked to return their revised baseline service mapping data by the end of March 2007. At 1 May 2007, 35 of the 45 sites had returned their data and so this preliminary presentation of baseline service mapping data does not take into account services that were available in the remaining 10 sites.

The total number of reported services varied from 53 in Launceston to 227 in Armadale. Most sites reported that the highest proportion of services fell into the broad categories of 'Education' or 'General Child and Family', which included community hubs, information services, counselling and family support services (Table 5). Overall, 39% of services in each site fell within the category of 'Education' and 23% were classified as 'General Child and Family'.

The rates varied between sites. More than 55% of services for young children and their families in East Gippsland and just under half of these services in the Cairns, Frankston North and Murwillumbah sites were reported to be educational (48%, 47% and 46% respectively). In contrast, only 22% of services in Townsville and 29% of those in Armadale were reported to be educational.

The number of 'Health' services reported in each site varied markedly. The Brimbank and Hume/ Broadmeadows sites listed only two 'Health' services each, and Kingston Loganlea and Kwinana only six, compared to Blacktown and Armadale, which listed 59 and 54 services respectively.

FPs were asked to assign services to more detailed categories. A comprehensive list of these categories can be found in the Service Mapping Typology (Table 4).

No GPs, dentists or applied health practitioners were reported in Brimbank and Hume/ Broadmeadows, and neither FP reported any hospitals serving their site. Conversely, several other sites provided extensive listings of medical services in their areas. The wide range of responses could be a result of respondent error or could reflect the actual range of medical services available in each site.

As with the 'Health' category, the Armadale site reported one of the largest numbers of services in the 'Supportive Services' category, which incorporates organisations involved with the planning and development of services. There were 22 'Supportive Services' reported in Armadale and 17 reported in Gladstone, compared to 1 or 2 in several sites including Swan Hill/Robinvale and Palmerston and none in Brimbank.

Neither Swan Hill/Robinvale nor Palmerston reported any services for several sub-categories beneath 'Supportive Services' including 'State Government departments', 'Local Councils' and 'Associations and Committees'. Again, it is likely that some of these services were available in these areas.

3.3 Summary and discussion

In summary, the data provided as at 1 May 2007 suggest that education services are the most prevalent services for children aged 0-5 years and their families in the CFC sites (39%), followed by general child and family services (23%) and health services (20%). An additional 12% of services targeted population groups with a higher risk of disadvantage. Nearly all FPs reported the existence of supportive networks in their site.

There was substantial variety in the number and type of services and networks available in each site. Overall, the number of services in the sites ranged from 39 to 227. Looking at the range in numbers of specific service categories, the number of educational services ranged from 11 to 87, the number of general child and family services ranged from 6 to 56 services, the number of general health services ranged from 2 to 61, and the number of services for population groups with a higher risk of disadvantage ranged from 0 to 36. The number of supportive networks in each site ranged from 0 to 22.

Despite substantial effort to ensure the service mapping data was accurate, comprehensive and consistent between the sites, it is likely that some errors and inconsistencies remain. Despite the problems in data accuracy, the results are likely to represent a reasonable picture of the number and variety of services for children aged 0-5 years and their families in the CFC sites at the commencement of the initiative.

The service mapping exercise highlighted the considerable difficulties inherent in an exercise such as this. Definitional issues are very problematic as there are no clear and universally accepted definitions of a 'service'. More importantly, it is very difficult for FPs to know the sum total of services in their area. In order to do so they need to rely on a variety of sources, as there is no central database or register of services. In addition services are in a continuous state of change. New services emerge, services change their remit, move premises or cease to operate. So even though FPs were required to undertake a service mapping exercise as part of the development of their strategic plans, they found this mapping exercise - which was considerably more rigorous than that required for their plans - enormously challenging.

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