Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, meets (l-r) ELI home visitor Pamela Martin; Toni Kelly & her daughter Luna Rose, ELI home visitor Marta Hernandez, ELI ABC 0-2 Senior Coordinator Marion Byrne, and Amalia Morillas Nuñez with her son Ismael.
The Early Learning Initiative (ELI) was delighted to welcome Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, to National College of Ireland (NCI) yesterday.
ELI is one of 7 organisations country-wide to deliver the Community Mothers Programme (CMP). ELI integrates CMP into the ABC 0-2 Programme.CMP was originally launched in 1983. Commencing in 2020, funding from the Sláintecare Integration Fund and a philanthropic donor permitted an update of the CMP to reflect current best practice. The project is a collaboration between local providers, the Katharine Howard Foundation, the HSE and Tusla, with ELI as the lead partner.
This work culminates in a new iteration of the programme:
Taking a ‘prevention is better than a cure’, Community Families supports parents in caring for their babies and young children, while also encouraging them to look after their own health and wellbeing. Working closely with the HSE Public Health Nursing Service, it is an effective mechanism for the delivery of key child health and wellbeing messages and supports, particularly in relation to:
o Maternal and child diet, sleep and overall health
o Childhood vaccination uptake
o Infant stimulation and development
It is a prevention and early intervention programme which aligns with the key priorities of:
o The Sláintecare Report
o The National Maternity Strategy
o First 5: The Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and Their Families
o The HSE Corporate Plan 2021-2024
The heart of Community Families is a Home Visiting Programme commencing in pregnancy and running to the child’s third birthday. It supports parental and child health and wellbeing. It is accompanied by a range of wraparound community supports for parents and their children.
Implementation of Community Families is being managed by the newly formed Community Families National Oversight and Support Group, co-chaired by the HSE and Tusla (who also fund the current services).
Minister Stephen Donnelly was greeted upon arrival by Gina Quin, President of National College of Ireland and Dr Josephine Bleach, Director of the Early Learning Initiative.
Minister Donnelly then got to meet with Home Visitors, Pamela Martin and Marta Hernandez, and some families who participate in Community Families, Amalia Morillas Nuñez with her children Ismael (2yo) and Miriam (8mo), Viv Boylan with her son Travis Tobin (1yo) and Toni Kelly with her daughter Luna Rose (17mo)
Following a presentation on Community Mothers/Community Families by Susan Brocklesby, Project Consultant from the Katharine Howard Foundation (KHF), Minister Donnelly joined a conversation circle with managers of Community Families programmes from around the country and other key representatives of the groups involved, including: Jackie Austin, HSE Director of Public Health Nursing and Oversight and Support Group (OSG); member (representing Anne Pardy, HSE Co-chair of OSG); Clíona Hannon, CEO KHF, and Catherine O’Donohoe, Tusla National Parenting Lead and co-chair of OSG.
Minister Donnelly remarked upon the unique collaborative nature of the work - involving two state agencies (HSE and Tusla), two Government Departments (Department of Health and Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth), parents themselves and their children, six community and voluntary agencies, multiple local and national stakeholders all supported by the Sláintecare Integration Fund, the Katharine Howard Foundation, the Community Foundation for Ireland and a private funder secured by the National College of Ireland - and noted the strength of integrated, inter-agency, cross-sectoral working.
Front: Gina Quin, President of National College of Ireland, and Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD; Middle: Dr Josephine Bleach, Director of the Early Learning Initiative, and Clíona Hannon, CEO of the Katharine Howard Foundation; Back: Jackie Austin, HSE Director of Public Health Nursing and Oversight and Support Group (OSG), Catherine O’Donohoe, Tusla National Parenting Lead and co-chair of OSG, and Susan Brockleby, Project Consultant from the Katharine Howard Foundation (KHF).