Transcript Wellbeing of children – the importance of early

Megan Mitchell
National Children’s Commissioner
6 November 2014
Wellbeing of children – the importance of early
intervention and collaborative practice
The Big Banter: called for early intervention and
preventative services
Early intervention and preventative
services for children and families:
• to build resilient children within
families and communities
• to break cycles of disadvantage
• to divert children from costly
tertiary systems.
Early action can have long-term
benefits
Children who participated in
early intervention, and
whose parents received
extra support with
parenting, were:
• more likely to finish school
and find higher paying jobs
• less likely to be involved in
crime
6 Week Old Baby
“Normal” brain
Laying the foundations in early childhood
During this time, children:
• experience most rapid period of
growth and change
• form strong emotional attachments
with parents/care givers
• establish their own important
relationships with other children
• actively make sense of the physical,
social and cultural dimensions of the
world they inhabit
Some early experiences with lifelong
negative consequences…..
• There has been an 18% increase in substantiated
abuse or neglect since 2008, with children 0-4 the
most likely to be subject of substantiation.
• For 59% of women experiencing partner violence,
children had been a witness to the violence.
• 22% of four and five year old children are
developmentally vulnerable on one or more
(Australian Early Development Index) AEDI
domains.
Fitzroy Crossing Western Australia
Fitzroy Valley Futures Early
Childhood Development SubCommittee - works
collaboratively across
disciplines to support local
families and children in the
home and community with
literacy, numeracy, parenting,
and access to health and
essential services.
The Liliwan Project
Liliwan means “for all the
little ones”. The Liliwan
Project recognises that
prevention of FASD is
important to optimise health
and development for future
generations of Aboriginal
children and to ensure the
transfer of culture and
language
from
one
generation to the next.
E Elliott, J Latimer, J Fitzpatrick, J Oscar & M Carter, ‘There’s hope in the
valley’ (2012) 48(3) Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 190.
KidsMatter Early Childhood Program
Photo of drawings by children at Northfield OSHC, SA (10 July 2013)
Justice reinvestment
• Seeks to divert resources from correctional
systems into programs that put children on prosocial pathways.
• Redirecting public funds from prisons and other
tertiary systems and investing the money into the
community, for example in family support and
youth engagement activities.
• When implemented, justice reinvestment
programs benefit entire communities.
Connected Communities – Bourke, NSW
A child rights approach to child health and
wellbeing
A child-rights approach to
health and wellbeing
requires the design and
implementation of evidenceinformed interventions that
systematically address the
whole range of determinants
during the life course of the
child.
Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No.
15, para 16.
 Age
 Sex
 Educational attainment
 Socioeconomic status
 Family environment
 Access to services and support
 Violence that threatens the life and survival of children
 Drug and alcohol abuse
 Government policies and administrative structures
 Social and cultural norms
 Poverty
 Alienation
 Isolation
UN Concluding Observations on early
intervention
Domestic violence – UN Committee recommended
that Australia prioritise early intervention
approaches to provide support to families in
vulnerable situations.
Mental Health – UN Committee recommended
allocating specific resources for improving the
availability and quality of early intervention services
UN Concluding Observations on early
intervention
Overrepresentation of Aboriginal women in prison
UN Committee recommended that:
- Australia review judicial and administrative
arrangements to prevent imprisonment by providing
support services to families at risk and using
alternatives to imprisonment and separation of
children from their families.
- Resource and support programs to tackle the root
causes of offences and provide early intervention to
families at risk.
The importance of national coordination
Image by Olga Berrios @ Flickr creative commons
The UNCRC as a blue print for action
and empowerment
Every community,
neighbourhood and
organisation across
the country can take
up the challenge to
be child rights
champions.
Collaboration also means
listening to children
I think that
everyone
should be
safe
There should
be no
violence
All children
should be
cared for
I am happiest
when my family is
happy and
healthy
All children
should have
equal access
to education
Life would be
better if we had
peace
All kids should
be treated
fairly
I’m happiest
when I’m playing
with my friends
I am happiest
when I am at
preschool and
have a nice
teacher
Every child
should have
healthy food
There should
be no bullies
There should
be housing
for everyone
Everyone
should have a
family