aspiring impacts

Dr Stuart DuffinCentre for Excellence in Welfare to Work

area-based: outcome focused reducing child poverty tactics

Influences on Practice I

1 Climate of economic and social pressures

2 Prevention of long-term dependence on welfare

3 The need for parental choice with regard to care of young children

4 Expectation of participation in education, training and employment

Influences on Practice II

1 32,000 children are at risk of poverty -18.8% of all children in Ireland EUSILC, 2011

22011 Census 215,315 one-parent families in Ireland26% of all families with children22% - almost 352,000 - of all childrenSILC demonstrated one-parent households are the most deprived 56% classified as deprived

3 Maximising household resources

4 Improving children’s wellbeing and life chances

4

What is said about current approach?

lack of commissioning of

services Unclear Role of State and semi-state

agencies

short-term funding initiatives

Fragmented

Too many pilots too little mainstreaming

Bureaucratic+

unresponsive

The challenges 1

• Increased risk of poverty due to dependence on welfare and no spare financial resources

• Tax and welfare traps coupled with transition costs in the system that deepen poverty and exclusion

• Internal barriers linked to low confidence and self-esteem

• Access to high quality, flexible and affordable childcare• Low educational attainment arising from early school

leaving and relevance of qualifications and skills to current labour market requirements

The challenges 2

• Social isolation and lack of personal supports and networks

• Access to transport to and from education, training and employment in both urban and rural areas

• Access to affordable quality housing • Health challenges arising from stress, domestic violence,

legal issues or a poor sense of general well-being • Reconciling work and family life

Going forward

• Ensuring a positive and equal future for all members of one-parent families

• Supporting families as they parent through times of family, work and life change - families in transition

• Delivering family centred services • Helping to enable better lives for parents and

children

supports

1.Focused specialist family support for progression to education, skill development and employment

2.Provision of expert parenting and family support to those parenting alone or sharing parenting

3.Tailored Reponses

Welfare to Work

from activation to welfare to work

• Options Programmes– delivers accredited programmes which cover the following areas: Enterprise

Skills; Work Trials; Customer Care; Essential Skills; Social Care, and others giving those parents enhanced skills for the labour-market

• careerclinic – a proactive and creative approach ,7 steps careerclinic provides

participants with practical support and advice on:• career review, assessment and guidance • CV preparation • interview techniques • how to capitalise on transferable skills in order to find

employment • challenges and solutions in parenting alone

Information

• Social welfare queries• Family law issues• Parenting• Childcare• Education and employment• Finances• Community supports and services

Parenting and Family Support Services

• Positive Parenting• Family Communications• Child Contact Centre• Dads’ Workshops• Shared Parenting• Parent Mentoring• Solution focused counselling• General counselling• Play therapy

Our model

new ideas that create value delivering a climate for inspiration

“……….enterprise and innovation are the engines of growth in the social economy”

The actions

• Challenge -- doing things differently• Customer Focus -- creating value • Creativity – generate possibilities • Communication -- open communication• Collaboration -- feed on interaction• Completion -- strong implementation• Contemplation -- gleaning the lessons

the mix

drivers-entryways to inspiring practice

Principles & asset base• Long term approach has three

underpinning principles:– Early intervention and

prevention: breaking cycles of poor outcomes

– Building on the assets of individuals and communities: moving away from a focus on deficits

– Ensuring that children and families needs are at the centre of service design and delivery.

• The principles of assets-based approaches include:

– Emphasising and supporting assets which enhance the ability of individuals, families and neighbourhoods to sustain health and wellbeing;

– Starting with what is working and what people care about;

– Building networks, friendships, self-esteem and feelings of personal and collective effectiveness and connectedness; promote health and wellbeing, enable people to make sense of their environment, help them take control of their lives; and

– Individuals and communities working with service providers to co-produce interventions and self-manage programmes of change.

goals & tasks

• maximise household resources in order to ensure that as few children grow up in poor households as possible.

• key outcomes:– Less families are in income

poverty/material deprivation (including in-work poverty)

– More parents are in good quality employment

– More families are financially capable and included

10-Point Anti-Poverty Strategy

Summary:• Monitoring and recording • Community participation• Community-based approaches • Integration into mainstream

programmes• Recognition of limitations:• Partnerships

Where to find us

• www.onefamily.ie

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Or 01 6629212