Community Safety And The Protecting Our ... - Auckland Council

LOCALITY BASED INTERSECTORAL PROJECT FOCUSED ON IMPROVEDSERVICES/OUTCOMES FOR UNDER 5S AND THEIR FAMILIESPROJECT OVERVIEWThe need for greater community involvement in local services planning is being increasinglyrecognised, as is the need for improvements in intersectoral planning, service coordination andfunding at the local level. Evidence has also shown the benefit of increased investment intargeted health/education and child development services for under 5s, especially in lowersocio-economic areas.In the UK, considerable investment (approx. £452million per annum) is now being focused onthe establishment of community development type projects in selected localities but with veryspecific health and wellbeing targets for young children. There are now more than 500 “SureStart” communities in the UK. The aim of these programmes is to work with parents-to-be,parents and children to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of babies andyoung children - particularly those who are disadvantaged - so that they can flourish at homeand when they get to school, and thereby break the cycle of disadvantage for the currentgeneration of young children.This approach has not really been investigated in a New Zealand context, yet may well haveconsiderable merit. By focusing on a locality in the City where there is both high socioeconomicneed and significant proportions of under 5s, an intensive, under 5s focused projectcould make a significant impact both on child, family and community outcomes by:qqqqqReviewing local access to services and service providers and identifying other unmet needsof families/whanau caring for under 5s eg. need for outreach clinics, specific languagespeaking home visitors/professionals, local provision of preschool education/primary healthservices etc, need for more parks/playgrounds, provision of public transport, familycentres/community centres, need for increased funding for existing service providersExtending/introducing new learning/development programmes for children and whanau eg.HIPPY, literacy programmes for parents, home/whanau based learning, behaviour changeprogrammes for difficult preschoolersUndertaking targeted campaigns/programmes eg. alternatives to smacking, immunization,diet/exercise and nutrition, checking early for glue ear or hearing difficulties, participating inearly childhood educationReviewing local health/social service information and working with communities to identifyand implement local priorities for child/whanau focused actionCelebrating local childrenPAGE 27