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Implementing children's policy - the whole child challenge

Implementing children's policy - the whole child challenge. 6 th March, 2008 Elizabeth Canavan Office of the Minister for Children. What is the whole child perspective?. A way of seeing that: Gives a child’s eye view;

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Implementing children's policy - the whole child challenge

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  1. Implementing children's policy - the whole child challenge 6th March, 2008 Elizabeth Canavan Office of the Minister for Children

  2. What is the whole child perspective? • A way of seeing that: • Gives a child’s eye view; • Recognises that children shape their own lives as they grow, while also being shaped and supported by the world around them; • Takes account of the child (nature) and the environment within which it exists (nurture). • … and facilitates the development of policy and services that that take into account the needs, rights and interests of children

  3. This perspective is informed and underpinned by - • The work of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child • Social Ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) – a model of development that situates the child in a socio-cultural context, and • Ward (outcomes of children’s lives, 1998).

  4. Whole child perspective has 3 broad domains – • Children’s innate capacity – further divided into 9 dimensions, including family relationships, physical and mental well being, identity, intellectual capacity etc. • Children’s relationships • Formal and informal supports

  5. Taking a whole child approach means: • focusing on the big picture, on the child’s whole life and circumstances and the links between individual issues and other aspects of their lives • focusing from the outset on what children need for healthy development and wellbeing • looking across the whole public service at what can be done to support children’s healthy development • considering multi-level interventions in the settings of family, friends and peers, school and the wider community • viewing children as having valuable knowledge to contribute to developing and evaluating policies and services that affect them • considering ways in which children can be involved in decision-making on issues that affect them.

  6. Implications of WCP for Policy? • Evidence-based practice with a focus on the nine dimensions and their inter-relationships • Formal and informal supports at the right time • Good co-ordination between and within services • Consultation and participation.

  7. The Story So Far…..? (An OMC view) • Structures • NCO=>OMC • National Children’s Advisory Council • National Children’s Strategy Implementation Group • Children’s Services Committees • Individual innovative projects at local level • Policy • National Children’s Strategy • Life-cycle approach – Towards 2016 • HSE context – Agenda for Children’s Services • Irish Youth Justice Strategy • Emerging integrated services thinking – early years, models such as jigsaw, incredible years, primary care teams

  8. Making innovation “mainstream” – a contradiction in terms? • Is the WCP leading us to the right processes / right models? • If so, how can we gather and maintain momentum for WCP? • What needs to change to accommodate this approach ? What are the issues? • How to we mainstream the thinking? • How do we mainstream the models?

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