A Social Report for Ireland Volume II - the NESC Website

children 79sub groups of the population are more likely to be bullied than others, with forexample, the experience of being bullied well above national averages for LGBTyoung people. Data on exposure to domestic violence is difficult to collect butit is notable that in 2006, 12,520 children had an initial assessment for a childwelfare or child protection concern. The ‘Ryan Report’ has documented a ‘litany ofabuses’ against children who were placed by the State in residential institutionsrun by the religious orders.At a broader level, many young people feel that they are not treated fairly andthat society does not do enough to help children and young people who are beingdiscriminated against. Challenges include addressing the negative stereotyping ofyoung people and promoting interculturalism.This summary overview addresses diversity among the child population in a limitedway. It is acknowledged that there are gender, age, class, geographic, economicstatus, disability, sexual orientation, and ethnic and cultural differences on manyof the indicators. 49 However, it is evident that the prevention and reduction ofpoverty and disadvantage is central to children’s well-being, as it affects manyother aspects of children’s lives, such as health, development, education, futureopportunities and how they feel about themselves. In many instances currentpolicy approaches may need to be reviewed, with an eye to how they can betailored the meet the needs of young people in particular circumstances orvulnerable situations.6.11 Policy MonitoringThis analysis raises the challenge of how we can better monitor progress onthe design and implementation of policies to assess their outcomes, specificallythe linkage and interaction between national level policy goals and local levelimplementation and delivery. In Chapter 3 (Volume I) we set out a model for thepotential role of social indicators in the policy cycle. Here we present an exampleof how this might work in practice and as a starting point for the development ofa ‘performance dialogue’ between policy designers, policy deliverers, and policyreceivers (bearing in mind that there may not be clear demarcations betweenthese groups).For example, as shown in Table 6.2, the Department of Education and Science hasthe policy goal (strategy) that every child should leave school literate. (This goalis reiterated in Towards 2016). 50 Diagnostic indicators can identify children whohave low levels of literacy and are unlikely to leave school literate, for example,who are these children, where are they, why are they leaving school illiterate. Theinputs to address illiteracy in schools include budgets, staff, training, curriculumdevelopment, as well as additional supports, such as speech and language teachersand therapists, special needs assistants, family supports, and so on. At this stage,building on the diagnostic indicators, baseline indicators can be established,setting out the number of children with low levels of literacy by socio-economicstatus, equality grounds, early childhood setting, school, and area.49. The State of the Nation’s Children: Ireland 2008 report provides detailed analysis on children’s well-being.50. NESF is currently undertaking a project on child literacy and social inclusion, see www.nesf.ie