- Research
RESEARCH
Research Committee
The Tasmanian Early Years Foundation Act 2005 prescribes a function of the Foundation is to promote research in relation to the wellbeing, learning and development of Tasmanian children up to the age of six years, and establish a research base in the early years in Tasmania. In meeting this objective the Foundation has established a Research Committee that is currently working on this project.
 |
Research Committee Members Back Row, left to right Front Row, left to right |
Since 2007, one of the Foundation's research priorities has been to find a way to measure outcomes related to how well children are faring. As a culmination of this work, the Foundation proudly launched its research report, Outcomes in the Early Years: The State of Tasmania's Young Children 2009 - a report on the Tasmanian Early Years Foundation's Outcomes Framework, in June 2009 at the Bellerive Primary School, Hobart. The initial reason for doing the research was to be able to allocate funds more effectively. As the research progressed, the importance of and the potential value of having an outcomes approach to larger decisions about planning and investment became clear.
The outcomes-based framework brings to the community a way to monitor the health and wellbeing of our young children at a critical period in their lives. The framework provides, in one database, a baseline for information that will assist the collective efforts of the Tasmanian community to measure the effectiveness of interventions. The report also outlines some excellent services that support young children in Tasmania, including some exciting initiatives that are aiming to strengthen and extend these services to support more families with young children.
However, there is a need to confront and deal with underlying factors in our society that result in difficult beginnings for children, compromising both their futures and the social and economic wellbeing of us all. The framework provides a context for recognising and understanding these factors, particularly poverty and social marginalisation.
In considering all the findings of the report on Tasmania's young children, the Foundation makes recommendations, which are addressed to all those concerned with improving the lives of our children. This includes politicians, policy makers, senior managers, community organisations and practitioners in the field.
- Ensure that governemnt has effective mechanisms for collaboration and joint planning across government and non-government agencies, with the common aim of improving outcomes for young children.
- Fully involve family members and communities in local-level planning to develop integrated services for children that are accessible, welcoming and responsive to changing needs. This will be particularly important in the newly developing child and family centres.
- Encourage local government to use the local and regional data to fucs on opportunities forworking in partnership across sectors to improve the wellbeing and outcomes for children and families. This could include reference to early years initiatives in existing and future strategic plans for children and young people, within a community development framework.
- Make use of the data to activate coalitions of people within the community, such as the Tasmanian Breastfeeding Coalition and Child Injury Prevention Coalition, in response to significant health promotion needs such as breastfeeding rates, smoking rates and childhood injuries.
- Review the coverage, accessibility and effectiveness of smoking cessation programs for pregnant women.
- Continue targeting resources and programs such as Launching into Learning to areas of greater need, and market the program effectively to improve uptake of these services.
- Expand the program and reach of nurse home visiting through cu@home to include more geographically remote areas, particularly those with high rates of teenage pregnancy.
- Commit resources to professional development programs such as family partnership training, which build on the skills of service providers and policy makers to enable them to be more effective at listening to parents, and working in partnership with families and communities.
The early years framework is the starting point for Kids Come First, an initiative of the Tasmanian Government that will look at health and wellbeing outcomes for children from birth to 18 years. To support this Kids Come First project, the Foundation, in joint funding partnership with the Department of Premier and Cabinet's Social Inclusion Unit, has provided $150,000 to support the project for the next 12 months.
Tasmania Together Partnership
The Tasmanian Early Years Fopundation Chair, Dr Sue Jenkins, and Mr Bob Campbell, Chair of the Tasmanian Together Progress Board, signed a partnership agreement as a shared commitment to create a consultative and collaborative relationship to work towards the achievement of Tasmania Together Goals and Benchmarks.
Tasmania Together is Tasmania'[s plan for the future of th eState. It provides a framework for monitoring change over time and assists planning and decision-making across government, business and the community focusing on progress in identified areas of improtance to the Tasmanian community.
The Foundation's outcomes-based framework is a complementary initiative that will assist in providing better reporting to support better decision making for our State's young children. The framework will enable both organisations to work closely to develop new benchmarks focused on children and families.
The Tasmania Together Progress Board was represented on the Foundation's Research Committee from the outset, in the establishment of the framework to improve measurement and reporting of outcomes for young children in Tasmania. This framework provides an important resource for future policy development and decision making in this crucial area.
24 October 2008 - "Innovation and Inspiration: key elements in leadership in the early years" .
Professor Scott's PowerPoint Presentation.
