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What the Australian Literature has to say (continued)

• Policy directions
• Models / Programs
• Evaluation issues

Early intervention and prevention: the evidence base underpinning family and community policy.
Stronger Families Learning Exchange Bulletin no.1 Autumn 2002: 5, and Online (65 KB)
http://www.aifs.gov. au/sf/pubs/bull1/early.pdf

The Stronger Families and Communities Strategy is working at both the family and community level through a set of early intervention and prevention projects and initiatives to build resilience so that families can break the cycle and deal with issues before they turn into problems. This overview outlines the assumptions underpinning the Strategy, early intervention services which have proven to be effective, and some of the types of projects that will be funded.

Australia. Department of Family and Community Services
Stronger Families and Communities Strategy.
Canberra, ACT: Department of Family and Community Services, 2000
http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/families/pubs/sfcsevaluation/pages/evaluationpubssupport.aspx

This kit provides information about the government's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy. The Strategy represents a way of strengthening families and communities with resources for early intervention and prevention initiatives to help strengthen and support families. Also included are the following nine facts sheets: Stronger families fund; Early intervention, parenting and family relationship support; A ground breaking longitudinal study of Australian children; Greater flexibility and choice in child care; Local solutions to local problems; Potential leadership in local communities; National skills development program for volunteers and International Year of the Volunteer; Can do community; and Communication strategy.

Commonwealth Task Force on Child Development, Health and Wellbeing (Australia)
Towards the development of a National Agenda for Early Childhood: consultation paper.
Canberra, ACT: Department of Family and Community Services, 2003, 18p, figures, and Online (PDF 951 KB)
http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/47511/20050210-0000/www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/family/early_childhood.htm

This consultation paper was prepared to start discussion and debate about the development of a National Agenda for Early Childhood. The paper identifies three broad action areas for national attention: early child and maternal health; early learning and care; and child friendly communities. The consultation paper suggests how a National Agenda for Early Childhood might enhance these areas. An appendix presents facts and figures about the lives of children, and the types of families they live in. Also summarised are risk and protective factors. A feedback form is provided.

Emerson, L
Stronger Families and Communities Strategy.
Family Matters no.57 Spring - Summer 2000: 66-71, and Online (PDF 312 KB)
http://www .aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fm2000/fm57/le.pdf

The Federal Government's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy was launched in April 2000. With its emphasis on prevention and early intervention strategies in family policy, the Strategy is a major shift from more traditional social policy. The author describes the context and underlying philosophy of the Strategy, and how these are translated into a new approach to funding community projects and building the evidence base in Australia.

Gauntlett, E; Hugman, R; Kenyon, P; Logan, P
A meta-analysis of the impact of community-based prevention and early intervention action.
Canberra, ACT: Department of Family and Community Services, 2001, 114p, tables, figures (Policy research paper no.11), and Online (356 KB)
http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/about/publicationsarticles/research/socialpolicy/Pages/prps-prps_11.aspx

This commissioned study posed two principal questions of the Stronger Communities element of the Commonwealth Government's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy: What is the evidence that prevention and early intervention programs promote the development of stronger communities and create measurable positive social outcomes? What is the evidence that there is a cost-benefit to be achieved by government supporting such programs? The study focuses on reviewing relevant national and international literature on community based approaches to responding to family and community problems by: reporting on the financial implications of prevention and early intervention approaches with reference to the five factors of the FaCS Stronger Communities Strategy, and emphasising the short-term and long-term costs and benefits of investing in these approaches; and where appropriate, extrapolating the benefits of particular local projects to estimate what the costs and benefits would be if that approach, or a similar one, were to be applied nationwide. The report is in the following sections: Introduction; Community well being; Early childhood and families; Young people; Seniors and intergenerational programs; Conclusion.

Hargrave, J
Commonwealth initiatives: early investment.
In: Children, Young People and Communities: the Future is in Our Hands Conference - papers. Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2001, 6p, Online only (11 KB)
http://www.aic. gov.au/conferences/cypc/hargrave.pdf

The role of government in the field of early intervention and strengthening families is addressed in this paper which identifies areas in which the Commonwealth government is involved, including child care, youth interventions, family support services, domestic violence, homelessness, and child support, and describes two programs, the Parenting Payment Intervention Pilot, and The Jobs Education and Training Program. Reference is made to the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy and its role in community support.

Hertzman, C
An early child development strategy for Australia? Lessons from Canada.
Brisbane, Qld: Commission for Children and Young People, 8p (Issue paper no.1), and Online (PDF 142 KB)
http://www.ccypcg.qld.gov.au/pdf/publications/issues/issue_one_paper.pdf

The author first outlines several characteristics that Canada and Australia share that make the Canadian experience in early child development relevant to Australia at a time when it, too, is considering making a social investment in early childhood. He then sets out the scientific background in terms of population health and early child development; describes recent progress in Canada towards improving outcomes for children; and discusses how understandings of the determinants of healthy child development might be reflected in an early child development strategy.

Krsevan, K
Putting families first in New South Wales.
Rattler no.54 Winter 2000: 8-9

Families First is a strategy initiated by the NSW government aimed at strengthening and coordinating prevention and early intervention support to families, with the end result of improving the life outcomes for their children. The strategy was influenced by the growing body of research which indicates that the first three years of a child's life are crucial in developing. This article provides information in how the strategy is being imlemented and how it relates to the children's services sector.

Romeril, B
Strengthening Victoria's families and supporting their children: the role of the Victorian State Government.
In: VCOSS Social Policy Congress: developing visions for new ways forward: proceedings 2001. Melbourne, Vic: Victorian Council of Social Service, 2001, 3p on CD-ROM, 3p

Community Child Care proposes that the Victorian Government invest $53m over five years in Children First, an initiative aiming to foster the development of children in the early years by strengthening the capacity of services to better support them and their families and by strengthening the capacity of the community and the state as a whole to support and strengthen children's and family support services. This paper describes the current array of children's and family support and welfare services; explains the rationale behind the Children First proposal; outlines a staged process of implementation; and lists outcomes.

Sims, M
Designing family support programs: building children, family and community resilience.
Altona, Vic: Common Ground, 2002, 285p, tables, figures

The author provides a framework for understanding family support programs that will assist in formulating programs at policy and procedural levels. She looks particularly at Australian and New Zealand examples and environments, but provides a brief history of family support that begins in the United States. She discusses why family support programs are needed; the aims of these programs; the theoretical underpinnings of family support; the components of family support, particularly early intervention, community focused and targeted family support; staff and staff training; and evaluation.

Stern, G
Stronger Families and Communities Strategy.
Stronger Families Learning Exchange Bulletin no.1 Autumn 2002: 6-9, and Online (191 KB)
http://www.aifs.gov.au/ sf/pubs/bull1/gs.pdf

The Stronger Families and Communities Strategy is a Federal Government initiative that recognises that helping to build stronger family and community relationships can go a long way to preventing difficult and expensive social problems happening in the first place. It also recognises that often it is people working 'on the ground' who can find the most practical solutions to local problems. The author presents an overview of the Strategy, its initiatives, new approaches to program management and project identification, Indigenous specific projects, the philosophy of action research, how the Strategy is working and achievements so far, early learnings, and process for project implementation.

Winkworth, G
Putting children's services in their place: a call for universal children's services to prevent child abuse and neglect in Australia.
Children Australia v.28 no.1 2003: 11-16

This paper discusses the need for a national early childhood intervention policy in Australia, including a universal approach to children's services as a platform for the prevention of child abuse and neglect, supporting families and enriching the lives of all children. It considers the literature on early intervention, including the theoretical and research base of successful programs and the link between early intervention and the prevention of child abuse and neglect. It examines the way the child welfare and children's services sectors have grown and the imperative at the beginning of the 21st century for a closer alignment of services. The United Kingdom's 'Sure Start' early intervention strategy is considered in so far as it attempts to develop a more comprehensive approach to child welfare by developing programs which are based on the research. Finally the paper asserts that recent strategies introduced by Federal and State Governments to promote childhood health and wellbeing are positive first steps, but need to go further to seriously address increasing numbers of children reported as suffering harm through abuse and/or neglect. (Journal abstract)

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Getting in early: reaping the rewards of early intervention.
Rattler no.76 Spring 2003: 18-20

Research supports the social and economic value of early intervention initiatives, showing that government funding of child development programs saves later expenditure on child abuse prevention, health, crime prevention and other social problems. This article describes a range of early intervention initiatives being undertaken by the NSW Department of Community Services (DOCS) to support vulnerable families and protect children and young people. The Health Promoting Early Childhood Program is described, along with DOCS' role in the whole of government Families First initiative. Projects and programs within Families First include measures to support parents who were victims of child abuse, early intervention programs targeting Indigenous families, and men's groups and fathering programs. The effectiveness of multi agency programs is discussed.

Baker, J
Regional roundup: Developing a child protection continuum in partnership with rural family workers in the Darling Downs.
QCOSS Bulletin May - Jun 2000: 22-23

An overview is presented of the Workers with Families Project, which operated from July to December 1999 in Toowoomba, Queensland with funding from the Department of Family and Community Services as a Child Abuse Prevention Pilot project. The project set out to explore the possibilities for partnership between a specialist child protection agency and rural family workers with the goal of extending effective early intervention responses to families where there are protective concerns. Strategies and forms of partnership adopted are described, and it is noted that the project highlighted the isolation faced by many rural workers in their professional practice.

Barnardos Australia
Getting it right on both fronts: an integrated strengths based approach to practice and organisational management.
In: Family Strengths: Everybody's Business, Everybody's Gain - The Second Australian Conference on Building Family Strengths, University of Newcastle, December 2001, 16p, figures, Online only (MS Word 465K)
http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-23623-20020228-www.pco.com.au/familystrengths/Moore%20Getting%20It%20Right-----Family%20Strengths%20Conf.23-11-01.doc

Barnardos South Coast Centre is a Children's Family Centre, one of 4 such Centres established by Barnardos Australia. Children's Family Centres are made up of integrated family support services, that is family support services in the generic sense, which are managed in a way that makes them 'seamless to clients'. This paper describes how Barnardos South Coast Centre is using an integrated strengths based approach to practice and organisational management. It focuses on the evolution of these strengths based approaches to working with marginalised families in the Centre, and describes the Family Support program restructure - a process which is building on lessons from the early years research and practice evidence. Barnardos have developed a framework that delivers prevention and early intervention services across a continuum of need. Practice examples of integrated child and family services are also provided.

Bourke, M; Gloker, E
Home-Start program.
In: Donnolley, S. and Edwards, J. eds. Inner worlds - outer realities: the prevention of child abuse and neglect through early intervention. Sydney, NSW: Benevolent Society of New South Wales, 1998, p119-129

Home-Start, a volunteer home visiting program which offers practical and emotional support to families with additional needs, is described in this chapter which outlines the objectives and history of the program and discusses the following: geographical area; profile of Home-Start families; non-English speaking background focus; advisory committee; the use of volunteers in Home-Start; profile of volunteers; volunteer training and selection; matching volunteers with families; and support and backup of volunteers. The importance of clearly defining the role of the volunteer is stressed and case studies illustrating the need for clear boundaries, multiple births, and multicultural issues are presented.

Brewster, W
Early intervention for children with social and emotional difficulties in the preschool years, supporting children, families and centres.
In: Early Childhood Matters Conference - Starting Strong - making the most of the first eight years: conference papers. Melbourne, Vic: Department of Human Services, 2002, 10p, Online (PDF 184 KB)
http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/earlychildhoodmatters/docs/conference_papers/session26_brewster.pdf

Working Together is an early intervention, family support program that targets families with pre-school aged children (2-6 years of age) experiencing social and emotional difficulties and/or children with challenging behaviours. This paper presents an overview of Working Together, including its objectives, types of families referred, mode of operation, and a case study.

Bryce, H; Drielsma, P
Early intervention home visiting: evaluated and revisited! Evaluation of a preventative model to strengthen isolated families.
Children Australia v.27 no.1 2002: 20-27, tables, figures

This article is a follow-up of a paper describing a proposed 'best practice' model for a home visiting service for first-time parents (Drielsma, 1998). The results of three years implementation and evaluation of a pilot of that model in a geographically isolated semi-metropolitan high growth area on the Central Coast, NSW are presented and discussed. The service uses paid professionals within the context of a 'Family Centre' with a volunteer network to offer ongoing home visiting support to first-time parents who are facing social and geographical isolation and who have few supports and resources to meet their needs. Importantly, the service has relied on close collaboration with child health services and a partnership with other community agencies and the local community itself. The external evaluation used a mix of Action Research and quantitative tools. This showed that the pilot model effectively engaged 'high-risk' families in a non-stigmatising way. Further, these families were networked to an array of other mainstream child health and family support services. The essence of this model was described through an Action Profiling process and this correlated closely with the model's structural parameters of operation. (Journal abstract)

Cann, W; Rogers, H; Worley, G
A telephone assisted parenting support service for families living in isolated rural areas.
Victorian Parenting Centre News v.6 winter 2001: 9-11

An overview is presented of the Positive Parenting Telephone Service, a preventative and early intervention initiative which endeavours to engage parents who are unable to access more traditional parenting and family support services due to geographical isolation. The program can be accessed by any parent, but it is particularly aimed at families where early difficulties in the parent child relationship place children at risk for more serious and chronic psychosocial maladjustment. The service was established by a consortia of agencies based in the Hume Region including the Upper Hume Community Health Service and Lifeline (Albury Wodonga) with clinical and program support provided by the Victorian Parenting Centre. Program evaluation and outcomes are discussed, as are future directions.

de Zen, L
Tapping into hidden strengths: families at Enfield.
Every Child v.9 no.2 Autumn 2003: 10-12

The author is a project coordinator for the Enfield Child Development and Family Project in which she works with parents and children classified as some of the most disadvantaged families in Adelaide. In this article, she shows how developing parent support groups can help the community to support each other, even in the face of adversity.

Druce, J
The Waterloo Parent Resource Program.
Rattler no.55 Spring 2000: 21-22

The Waterloo Parent Resource Program is an innovative early intervention pilot project for vulnerable families. As well as providing a creative early intervention service, it aims to develop support systems in partnership with other services and to explore how child care can be used to achieve better outcomes for young families and those at high risk. In this article the author outlines the program and explains the ways in which parents will be offered support.

Duffie, J; Rogers, R
The Community Partnerships Project: working towards comprehensive, coordinated early childhood service systems.
In: Early Childhood Matters Conference - Starting Strong - making the most of the first eight years: conference papers. Melbourne, Vic: Department of Human Services, 2002, 7p, Online (PDF 220 KB)
http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/earlychildhoodmatters/docs/conference_papers/session49_duffie_%20Rogers.pdf

The purpose of the Community Partnerships Project which is being conducted by the Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, in partnership with Good Beginnings Australia, is to develop and support the implementation of a methodology for local communities to re-focus existing family and children's services in their local area so that they provide an emphasis on prevention, early detection and early intervention; and to establish processes and structures at a local community level so that family and children's services collaborate to provide a coordinated network of family-centred services. This presentation summarises evidence gleaned from the literature review for why and how services need to move towards a more comprehensive and coordinated service system at a local level. The Project will use this evidence to resource local communities to move towards this approach.

Elliott, A
Supporting inclusion and early intervention in rural and remote communities.
Every Child v.8 no.2 Autumn 2002: 8-9

Raising a child with a developmental delay or behavioural problem can be challenging for any parent but for parents in isolated areas the challenge is often even greater. The author investigates the toll of limited resources on children and the importance of ongoing training for service staff and families in isolated communities. Also included are descriptions of two services providing inclusion support and early intervention in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Family Links Project
Family Links interim report, May 2001.
Unpublished report, 2001, 58p, figures

The early intervention project, Family Links, is described and evaluated in this Interim Report. During its two year operating period, the project has aimed to provide parenting education, counselling and referral services to the families using ten child care centres in the Victorian cities of Hume and Moreland. The report's introduction covers the first year of the pilot period, recommendations for the future of the project, the theoretical background of the early intervention model used, the choice of child care centres that participated in the project, and recent Australian programs that have things in common with Family Links. The development of the service model is then outlined, before the findings and implications of the project's outcomes are discussed.

Fraser, J A; Armstrong, K L; Dadds, M R; Morris, J P
Preventing abuse and neglect of children under 2 years: early identification of those who parent under stress.
In: 7th Australian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, Perth, WA, October 1999: conference proceedings. Canning Bridge, WA: Promaco Conventions, 1999, volume 1, p13-21, tables, figures

Specifically focusing on the final aim of a trial study which evaluated the effectiveness of home visiting as a prevention and early intervention strategy for child abuse and neglect in Brisbane, Queensland, this paper considers the hypothesis that maternal, family and environmental factors identified in the immediate postnatal period would be predictive of adjustment to the parenting role.

Good Beginnings National Parenting Project
Best practice guidelines for volunteer home visiting.
Surry Hills, NSW: Good Beginnings National Parenting Project, 1999, 8p

Volunteer home visiting programs for families with dependent children are family focused services, working with individuals and family units in an holistic way, to reduce their vulnerability, strengthening the community as a whole. These guidelines have been designed to set a framework for the manner in which volunteer home visiting support is provided, to strengthen the capacity of families and to give best care to children. The document has been produced on the basis of a national workshop convened by Good Beginnings. Over a period of two days, program coordinators and other professionals involved in volunteer home visiting of families with dependent children discussed standards for home visiting. The draft guidelines were circulated widely, to engage maximum participation in this consultation process.

Goodrick, D; Howell, B; Prilleltensky, I; Hogarth, M
Connect for Kids: enhancing life opportunities and choices.
In: One child's reality, everyone's responsibility: proceedings, 8th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. Melbourne, Vic: Department of Human Services, 2001, CD-ROM, 8p

Connect for Kids, initiated in 2001, is an early intervention program that aims to engage the local community in developing sustainable processes to enhance the lives and well being of children. The authors outline the background, goals and content of the program, as well as challenges and future directions.

Griffiths, E; Hays, J
Towards stability and independence for young families in crisis: Family Crisis Childcare Pilot Project: Townsville Centrelink, Queensland.
In: Family futures: issues in research and policy, 7th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference, Sydney, July 2000. Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2000, 12p, table, figures, Online only (64 KB)
http://www.aifs.gov. au/institute/afrc7/griffiths.html; http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/afrc7/griffiths.pdf

The Family Crisis Childcare Pilot Project began operations in Townsville in January 2000. One of two new pilot projects in Australia funded by the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, it is the only one operating out of Centrelink and in a provincial city. The Centrelink Young Family Support Worker has been funded to examine how childcare services can assist young families in crisis overcome their immediate difficulties and work towards a more stable and independent future. Early intervention and prevention are central to the model of service delivery, as are program flexibility and assisting young parents to actively initiate positive change. The primary target group is partnered or single young parents aged 15 - 25 and the anticipated project outcomes include: improved stability and independence of young families in crisis and those at high risk of early and problematic parenthood; improved outcomes for young people due to better links between service providers; participation in education, training or employment where feasible; development of sustainable community partnership models focussing on prevention and early intervention with young families and those at high risk); and better use of child care services to support young families in crisis. The project expects to provide an insight into the needs and solutions for young families in crisis as well as identifying gaps and issues within existing service delivery that contribute to the difficulties encountered by the target group. (Author abstract)

Hall, J
Improving hospital systems for disadvantaged children and babies.
Children Australia v.27 no.4 2002: 33-36

With a focus on the Strengthening Families Program, located in the Social Work Department of the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, the author discusses the importance of early intervention with vulnerable families where children and babies may be at risk of neglect and disadvantaged by their social circumstances in assessing appropriate, preventative support services. The Strengthening Families Program offers care management to individual families and is working towards systemic changes in the hospital's response to these families. A case study is presented where a recent history of domestic violence impacted on the family's capacity to access health and welfare services. Comments by discussant Wendy Weeks follow the article, exploring some of the issues relating to the area and those raised by the case study.

HIPPY Australia
HIPPY: an exciting early childhood education program.
Fitzroy, Vic: HIPPY Australia, 2002, 4p

In 2001, the Brotherhood of St Laurence established the national office, HIPPY Australia, after being granted the national licence by HIPPY International for the operation of all HIPPY programs in Australia. HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) is a two-year child, family and community enrichment program. It works with four and five-year-old children from disadvantaged communities. It helps parents to educate their child and works as an early intervention tool. This leaflet provides an overview of the program, and draws attention to its benefits.

Jane, L
Early intervention programs enhance resilience and self esteem in children and young people.
In: One child's reality, everyone's responsibility: proceedings, 8th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. Melbourne, Vic: Department of Human Services, 2001, CD-ROM, 7p

MacKillop Family Services' Education Mobile Unit (EMU) program works closely with primary and secondary school students in the Barwon region of Victoria who are at risk. It aims to improve and enhance self esteem, social skills and resilience. The author describes how the program, an early intervention model, offers practical and successful strategies to education professionals and parents. The link between the prevention of child abuse and neglect and the EMU program is that it exposes positive strategies of behaviour management, rather than physical discipline, to parents, children and young people. The program advocates children's rights and the basic value that children and young people should be viewed by society as individuals. (Author abstract, edited)

Long, C
0-5 early intervention: home visits and parenting centres.
In: Children, Young People and Communities: the Future is in Our Hands Conference - papers. Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2001, 6p, Online only (21 KB)
http://www.aic.gov. au/conferences/cypc/long.pdf

Presented in point form, evidence supporting the economics of investing in early childhood is presented in this brief overview of issues relating to early intervention, home visits and parenting centres. Areas covered include: maternal attachment; early intervention programs; brain development; predisposition to adult illness determined early; the link between poor literacy and health; socioeconomic disadvantage and infants; poor family functioning and effect on health outcomes; role of family and child health nurse; screening and surveillance by nurses; Edinburgh Scale / Women's Wellbeing, use by nurses; new parent groups; child development units; parenting centres; Parent Information Telephone Assistance Service - helpline; key components for early childhood services to make a lifetime of difference; and home visiting.

MacDonald, B
Best Start - a commitment to improve the health, development and well-being of Victoria's children.
Health Promotion Strategies v.2 no.4 Dec 2001: 2

Best Start, an early years prevention and early intervention project, has been identified as a priority Flagship Project by the Victorian Department of Human Services, and is now being further developed across government. Information is provided here about the project, and reasons for focusing attention on young children are explained.

Mitchell, S
Childcare with a twist: accessing child care services as front line child abuse and neglect prevention strategy to children with disturbed and challenging behaviour who cannot access mainstream services.
In: One child's reality, everyone's responsibility: proceedings, 8th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. Melbourne, Vic: Department of Human Services, 2001, CD-ROM, 7p, figures

Barnardos Children's Community Program (BCCP) operates before school, after school and vacation care services for children with challenging and disturbed behaviours in the Illawarra who cannot access mainstream childcare services. This Children's Family Centre offers an integrated children's welfare and health service, focussing on marginalised, vulnerable children under 12 years and their families. Located with Barnardos Services are government health services, working in the prevention of abuse and neglect. The author provides an overview of the models of service adopted by the program, a view of the role of childcare services as front line prevention and early intervention strategies; a practice model for working with children with challenging behaviours in a childcare setting; practice experience and lessons; and case examples of outcomes achieved for children who could not access mainstream childcare or school services due to their behaviours resulting from abuse or neglect. (Author abstract, edited)

O'Neil, D
Strengthening families through early intervention: a solution focussed approach.
In: Children, Young People and Communities: the Future is in Our Hands: conference proceedings. Hobart, Tas: Division of Child, Youth and Family Support, Department of Health and Human Services, 2001, p44-46

The author suggests that current social policy is focused on rescue work rather than preventative work. She explains that although our immediate response is to the pain of a child, removing it from a home does not prevent abuse. She believes that the answer lies in greater emphasis on preventative measures. She gives examples from the range of services provided by, St Luke's Anglicare for families and children. St Luke's was reorganised in 1987 around outcomes, with its services becoming more goal directed. The author explains how this approach can give families and children more protection than by just responding to their immediate needs.

Prichard, P; Polglase, L
Good Beginnings Program: National Home Visiting and Parenting Project: innovative programs responding to families and communities.
In: Children, Young People and Communities: the Future is in Our Hands Conference - papers. Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2001, 5p, Online only (24 KB)
http://www.aic. gov.au/conferences/cypc/prichard.pdf

The Good Beginnings Program, a national home visiting and parenting project, is described in this paper which discusses: professional and volunteer home visiting; the importance of using a community development model when considering service delivery in high needs communities; fathering programs; Prison Parenting Program; and reasons for the success of the Good Beginnings Program.

Rogers, R; Martin, J
The early years: consultation with providers of early childhood services in the Melbourne municipalities of Yarra, Hume and Moreland.
Fitzroy, Vic: Brotherhood of St Laurence, 2002, 101p, tables

This document represents the culmination of Phase Two of the Early Years Project, undertaken by the Brotherhood of St Laurence in conjunction with the Centre for Community Child Health. It builds on the findings of Phase One, which identified challenges and gaps in service provision for vulnerable and disadvantaged young children. The aims of Phase Two were: to identify ways in which the Brotherhood might enhance the experience of the first three years of childhood so as to improve the life chances of children in disadvantaged families; and to make recommendations to the Brotherhood for its continuing contribution to improving educational and life chances for children from disadvantaged families. To gain a broad perspective, three municipalities of the northern metropolitan region of Melbourne were visited and consultations were held with a wide variety of service providers regarding the prevailing conditions in their communities for the youngest children of disadvantaged families. Consultations were also held with consumers of a number of services, to gain their perspective on the problems they face and whether appropriate services are available.

Ryan, P
I'm looking at the future: evaluation report of Reconnect - final report - October 2003
Canberra, ACT: Department of Family and Community Services, 2003, 121p, Online
http://www.facs.gov.au/sa/housing/pubs/homelessyouth/Evaulation_Final_report_2003/

The Reconnect Program is an Australian Government initiative designed to address the problem of youth homelessness. I'm Looking at the Future is a final report of the program's evaluation that took over three years. It brings together many strands of the evaluation process, including two principal data sources, namely two longitudinal studies that investigated respectively client outcomes and community capacity-building outcomes (separate reports on these two studies are available). The report assesses how well the Reconnect Program has achieved its overall objectives and makes a series of recommendations of how the program could be further improved.

Statham, J; Eisenstadt, N
The Sure Start program in the United Kingdom.
Family Matters no.59 Winter 2001: 39-41 and Online (PDF 176 KB)
http://www .aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fm2001/fm59/js.pdf

The Sure Start program in the United Kingdom is an early intervention program supporting children under four and their families. It aims to improve the health and well being of children in disadvantaged areas so that they are ready to thrive when they start school. The article describes the background to the Sure Start program, what it offers, and what it aims to achieve. It then reviews the early experience of program implementation to draw out some initial lessons for policy makers who may be thinking of developing similar initiatives.

Tarrant, L
Programmes which support parents with infants and young children in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Childrenz Issues v.6 no.2 2002: 28-29

Parents as First Teachers, and Family Start are two New Zealand government funded programs. Both of these programs are concerned with early intervention, and introduce parents to information, activities, ideas and child development knowledge. They explain to parents the impact of early experiences on children's development and other implications of neuroscience. This article provides an overview of each of the programs, and discusses the need to encourage a positive relationship between the parent educator and the parent or caregiver.

Walter, R; Dawson, M
Development of Ngala's Northern Community Service community casework: an act of faith.
In: One child's reality, everyone's responsibility: proceedings, 8th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. Melbourne, Vic: Department of Human Services, 2001, CD-ROM, 10p

The authors discuss the adoption in 1998 - 1999 of a community casework model of family support by the Ngala early parenting centre in Western Australia. Community casework is a locally based, developmental approach to working with families that builds on natural community networks. It is based on the assumption that locally provided services provide the greatest benefits and that individuals and communities know what is best for themselves. The authors report on the development process Ngala went through and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the community casework approach.

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This selection of literature focuses on evaluation issues in relation to early intervention. See also the bibliographies on Action Research evaluation.

Chisholm, J
Benefit-cost analysis and crime prevention.
Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2000, 6p, tables (Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice no.147), and Online (65 KB)
http://www.aic.g ov.au/publications/tandi/ti147.pdf

Cost benefit analysis in relation to crime prevention is a relatively new field. This paper outlines the techniques of cost benefit analysis and provides some evaluated examples in crime prevention. The paper shows that not all early intervention programs are necessarily cost effective. However, what is important is to ensure that tax dollars that can be used for a host of competing alternatives, are efficiently allocated to effective programs or policies.

Fallon, M A
Evaluating early intervention programs: one model's process and products.
Australian Journal of Early Childhood v.25 no.3 Sept 2000: 26-31

The purpose of this article is to present one model's approach to program evaluation of early intervention programs. The model presented requires implementation by a trained program evaluator and utilises clear and simple data collection methods. The model is based on measures of parental and staff satisfaction resulting in qualitative and quantitative information. Such flexible and accurate measures are necessary for stakeholders to use in making practical policy decisions for program improvement. (Journal abstract)

Fisher, K; Kemp, L; Tudball, J
Families First outcomes evaluation framework.
Sydney, NSW: Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, 2002, 40p, (SPRC Reports 7/02), Online only (PDF 222 KB)
http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/reports/Families_First_Outcomes_EvalFramework.pdf

The overall aim of the Families First initiative is to use a coordinated network of services to support parents, carers and communities raising children to solve problems early before those problems become entrenched. This report of the University of New South Wales Research Consortium for the Cabinet Office of NSW is the final draft of the Families First Outcomes Evaluation Framework. The evaluation of Families First outcomes is the focus of this Evaluation Framework, rather than inputs, processes and activities and outputs. The proposed outcome indicators are presented in the categories of children, families and community. The three sections start with a summary table of proposed outcome indicators. The description of each measure includes goals, rationale, definitions, data sets and recommended subgroup analysis. Once the indicators are agreed upon, possible economic returns from achieving the goals will be added.

O'Hanlon, A; Parham, J; Wells, L
Promotion, prevention and early intervention for mental health: a scoping study.
Auseinetter no.17 Apr 2003: 15, and Online (journal section PDF 213K)
http://auseinet.flinders.edu.au/resources/auseinet/netter17/aus_17 _13_22.pdf

Auseinet and the Australian Divisions of General Practice are working in partnership to conduct a scoping study of current practices in promotion, prevention and early intervention (PPEI) for mental health in the general practice setting in Australia. This article provides background information to the study and outlines the main objectives and methodology.

O'Hanlon, A; Ratnaike, D; Parham, J
Building capacity for mental health: a two and a half year follow-up of the Auseinet Reorientation Of Services Projects.
Auseinetter no.16 Dec 2002: 13-15, and Online (PDF 131 KB)
http://auseinet.flinders.edu.au/resources/auseinet/netter16/aus_16 _13_18.pdf

From 1998 to 1999, Auseinet supported eight agencies to reorient their services to an early intervention approach. This article first provides a summary of the original reorientation projects, then summarises the results of a follow-up evaluation of the projects, which was undertaken two and a half years after the seed funding had ceased. A capacity building framework is used to illustrate the extent to which the strategies developed in the reorientation projects have been sustained or expanded. It is demonstrated that the projects have achieved many of the activities, process indicators and outcome indicators proposed in the National Action Plan for Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention for Mental Health 2000 (Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care). Also presented is a list of predictors of sustainability and identified barriers to reorientation. (Journal abstract, edited)

Ratnaike, D; Parham, J
Reorientation of services toward early intervention in mental health: brief report.
Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health (AeJAMH) v.1 no.2 Jun 2002, Online only (185 KB)
http: //auseinet.flinders.edu.au/journal/vol1iss2/ratnaike.pdf

A three and a half year follow up evaluation was conducted of eight government and non government agencies who received seed funding from Auseinet to reorient an aspect of their service to an early intervention approach in mental health. The aim of the research was to determine key elements in sustainability of seed funded projects. Face to face interviews were conducted with members of each agency involved in the reorientation project. This evaluation was situated in the theoretical base of capacity building and sustainability and focused on identifying barriers and opportunities that agencies faced in reorienting their services to an early intervention approach at agency and community levels. Agencies had varied success in reorienting to an early intervention approach. This ranged from conceptual shifts in early intervention thinking to the expansion of early intervention services. Success was dependent on agency and community characteristics. The findings confirm the Australian literature on capacity building which suggests several crucial predictors of success in changing the ways agencies run. These include the development of interagency links, management support and problem solving abilities. This brief report is useful in identifying factors at a community level which impact on early intervention activity in mental health. (Journal abstract)

Raven, P; Rivard, M; Samson, Y; VanderPlaat, M
Empowerment-based evaluation: research and social change.
In: Munford, R. and Sanders, J. eds. Making a difference in families: research that creates change. St Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 2003, p15-34, figure, map

Canada's Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) is an empowerment oriented research program that evaluates a large number of community based family development programs. The authors share what they learnt in the design of an evaluation framework for CAPC and how evaluation can be used as a tool for empowerment, rather than being judgmental and intrusive. They discuss the problems they encountered, mainly related to the validity of the findings and language issues. They emphasise the need to create a flexible analytical framework, and the importance of viewing empowerment as a two way relationship, being clear about who is defined as a participant, and approaching empowerment evaluation as a tool for changing the social structures and systems where it is located.

Thomson, C; Fisher, K; Tudball, J
Families First area review methodology: for the Cabinet Office of New South Wales.
Sydney, NSW: Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, 2002, 16p, (SPRC Reports 2/03), Online only (PDF 231 KB)
http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/reports/FamiliesFirstAreaReviewMethologyFinal.pdf

Prepared for the Cabinet Office of New South Wales, this document outlines the methodology for the process evaluation through the Area Reviews of three geographical areas implementing Families First in 2002-2003. The Area Reviews focus on the development and implementation of the Families First strategy, and are one of several evaluation activities for Families First. Overall, the evaluation considers whether Families First has been effective in supporting families and communities in NSW to care for children using an early intervention approach and in developing linkages between specialised health, education, community and other policies.

Victoire, A
Issues in evaluation of a health promotion intervention: Taking Big Steps.
Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal v.27 no.1 Jan - Feb 2003: 10-14

Taking Big Steps is a transition project with health promotion goals for young Indigenous people. Because the completion of some level of education is associated with improved health status, the project provides early intervention for at risk youth facing the transition from their local communities to regional centres for educational purposes, to encourage school retention rates. The author discusses the need to develop an evidence base for the effectiveness of such interventions. She then addresses some of the issues in evaluating this intervention program, including design or theory evaluation, evaluation of implementation, and effectiveness measurement.