What is Communities for Children?
Communities for Children is part of the Family Support Program (FSP) which provides prevention and early intervention programs to families with children up to 12 years, who are at risk of disadvantage and who remain disconnected from childhood services.
Of the 45 current sites funded under the FSP 11 are located in New South Wales, eight in Queensland and eight in Victoria, six in Western Australia, five in South Australia, four in the Northern Territory and three in Tasmania.
A key local non-government organisation (Facilitating Partner) in each site acts as broker in engaging smaller local organisations to deliver a range of activities in their communities.
Examples of activities being implemented under CfC are:
- home visiting
- early learning and literacy programs
- early development of social and communication skills
- parenting and family support programs
- child nutrition, and
- community events to celebrate the importance of children, families and the early years.
How does it work?
In implementing their local initiative, Facilitating Partners establish a Communities for Children Committee with broad representation from stakeholders in their community. The Facilitating Partner oversees the development and implementation of strategies and activities and manages the funding allocation for the site. Much of the funding is allocated to other local service providers to deliver the activities.
Why are we doing this?
Australian and international evidence confirms that the early years of a child's life are critical to his or her future development. It is at this time that a child's brain is rapidly developing and the foundations for learning, behaviour and health over the life course are set.
The path to poor outcomes such as school difficulties, welfare dependency, and poor physical and mental health, often begins in early childhood with a range of associated risk factors. Early childhood risk factors that impact on outcomes include child characteristics such as poor attachment or poor social skills; parenting styles; family factors and life events; and community factors such as socio-economic disadvantage and lack of support services.
However, these risk factors can be offset by protective factors such as good antenatal and maternal health and nutrition, parental communication and positive attention from both parents, family harmony and participation in broader social networks.
Communities for Children works towards ensuring that children have the best possible start in life by focusing on well-targeted early intervention approaches that bring about positive outcomes for young children and their families.
Funding for Communities for Children has been extended for another three years until 30 June 2012 in recognition of the strong evaluation findings from the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy Evaluation.
National Evaluation Findings
The National Evaluation was released in June 2009