Program Schedule

This program is focused on integration of early childhood services across all sectors of education, care, health and family support.

Deliberative sessions on integration and collaboration

When talking about contemporary policy and service delivery the terms 'integration' and 'collaboration' are often spoken and promoted with great confidence and with an assumption that we all understand and agree on what they mean. But nothing could be further from the reality. These are critical concepts and mean new ways of working which require us to unpack what we are doing, to ensure we are in fact all talking the same language, and are working within the same understandings. When policy makers and funders talk about integration and collaboration - what do they mean? When people working on the ground with children and families talk about integrated service delivery and working collaboratively - what do they mean? When our managers tell us we need to work more collaboratively do they know what they are asking of us? Is it possible we are all taking past each other? What do families think it means and do they care? The conference is an opportunity for policy makers, funders, senior managers, and front line service delivery staff, to work together to reach a shared understanding of what these ideas mean to all of us working in this area.

Using a methodology described broadly as a 'deliberative process', this conference will dedicate one session to exploring what the key elements of integration and collaboration mean in policy and practice. The deliberative process will group people from different backgrounds into small concurrent deliberative sessions of around 15-20 people. You will be allocated to a group to ensure there is a good mix of participants. Each session will be independently facilitated, by experienced deliberative facilitators, and will use an identical structure to explore why the concepts are important, why they have now endured longer than many previous policy and service delivery concepts, and what some of the drivers, imperatives and challenges are, and how to address these for successful implementation. In each small group session participants will be asked to frame at least two questions to a 'Panel of Experts' to get answers to some of the big questions we all have about integration and collaboration. Each small group session will be followed by a Panel where the questions will be answered. The Panel will be moderated by an experienced deliberative moderator.

This methodology is an adaptation of public decision methodologies which engage people in discussing complex public policy ideas and issues. It requires highly experienced facilitators, a good structure and small group processes, and high quality panel members who can answer questions on the topic honestly and from very different perspectives. It allows participants to ask hard questions, to explore their doubts and concerns, and to share their own experience and develop their own strategies.

Concurrent Session A

'Dream more than others think is practical: Discovering a vision for a new child and family centre'

This paper details a research project takes place in and around the Atherton Gardens Public Housing Estate in Fitzroy and forms part of a larger early childhood community development project. The early childhood services (Maternal and Child Health, family support and a Kindergarten/Child Care) are in the process of coming together to form a new child and family centre to offer a range of services for the children and families within the community. These individual institutions have spent the last three years discussing the establishment of an innovative joined-up service for younger children and their families (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence 1999, Kahn, & Kamerman 1992, Moss, & Petrie 2002). This will bring several services together to offer families better support in the raising of their children. This research project aimed to explore the vision for this innovative service from the perspective of several key stakeholder groups involved in the development. The findings, the beginnings of a shared vision and the insights gained through the process may offer other Community groups a greater understanding of the complexities and processes involved in undertaking work to integrate children's service. The paper will go on to present a model of innovative service delivery to children and their familles that combines aspirations for children with those of the community as a whole. The findings of the research project and the ongoing project work are shaping the development of a new model for provision based on the principles of social incision and life-long learning

Doveton, an outer south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, has been identified by the Dropping off the Edge report (2007) as an area of significant chronic disadvantage. 'Doveton Connect' is a partnership between Good Beginnings Australia, Doveton Nth Primary School, Cardinia-Casey Community Health and Best Start( City of Casey). It is a partnership which emerged from a realisation that Doveton families were not accessing local health and educational services. Subsequently these children were entering school significantly behind their peers and were unlikely ever to catch up. The project aims to improve outcomes for local children by engaging and supporting families and by challenging traditional approaches to service delivery. Based in a community hub within a Primary School, the project embraces a collaborative and coordinated, yet flexible approach to information provision and service delivery, offering Maternal & Child Health, supported playgroups, new parents' groups, early literacy initiatives, family events, and allied health services. In addition, the project seeks to enhance communication between service providers eg by providing regular forums,and to promote interdisciplinary practice. By building partnerships between service providers and parents, between agencies working on the ground, and between sectors at policy-making level,the Doveton Connect partnership is proving to be effective in providing for families, a comprehensive and integrated range of services which reflect local needs and are readily accessible.

Early childhood professionals have an important role to play in supporting families to raise their children. Early childhood services may be the first point of contact for families and are often services that they interact with on a long term basis. This means that early childhood professionals often play multiple roles such as the provision of advice, resources and referrals to support families in raising their child/ren. This paper outlines the South East Sydney Strengths Based Practice in Children's Services Project which is funded through the Families First strategy. Families First is the NSW Government's prevention and early intervention strategy for children aged 0-8 and their families. The South East Sydney Strengths Based Practice in Children's Services Project is a partnership between The Benevolent Society and Lady Gowrie Child Centre, Sydney. The Project's aim is to support children's services (long day care, family day care, home based care, preschools and occasional care) to build on their strengths by developing a common understanding of the strengths based family centred approach and by developing practical tools that will assist staff in their work with colleagues, children and families. The Project also supports growth in the working relationships between children's services and other health, welfare and specialist agencies in the South East Sydney Region. The planned presentation will outline how the Project has been working with 45 children's services staff to support them in implementing a strengths approach when working with the key stakeholders in their services. The presentation will share the positive outcomes of the Project to date. It will highlight the reflective practice strategies being trialled and feature participants stories from the reflective learning circles. These learning circles are being used to bring together children's services staff, from a range of settings in small groups to learn about the strengths approach, and provide opportunities to reflect on what they are doing with their colleagues, families and children. Discussion will also include how relationships with other support agencies have been developed and strengthened. The presentation will conclude with ideas on the ways in which this approach can be successfully adapted to be embedded more significantly in the provision children's services.

Concurrent Session B

In this presentation we provide insights into how one, not-for-profit organisation, SDN Children's Services Inc., has grown to incorporate an array of diverse early childhood programs and is working towards organisational integration of these programs. We provide examples of how integrated early childhood education and care programs and early intervention services are beneficial for families and staff in many ways. For example, they support children's and families' ready access to expertise, and can broaden professional knowledge and understanding, making staff better able to respond to the diverse strengths and needs of children, families and communities. We argue, however, that the idea of a universal "one stop shop" approach to early childhood education and care and early intervention program delivery should not to be thought of as a panacea. We raise a number of challenges to multi-disciplinary service delivery. Further, we argue that, ensure equity of access to programs, there is a continuing need for "stand alone" specialist early childhood programs embedded within the community, and for services that support vulnerable families to access mainstream services.

Setting up a successful integrated early childhood service takes conscious thought and planning from the tiny details to the big picture. While some of the items to be discussed may seem like common sense or not that important, Judyth and Joanne have been to many family and children's services where they do not happen. Judyth and Joanne worked together in a Communities for Children site in Adelaide's North Western suburbs called Seaton Central. They were able to bring together their experience, from a variety of early childhood settings, to develop inclusive practices at Seaton Central that esured service providers are as important as the families. Clear outcomes for families were also achieved for staff and volunteers. One of the indicators of our success is the number of staff who want to work at the site, and the large number of volunteers that have been recruited and kept. The challenges of achieving this include bringing together a range of diverse service providers with varied backgrounds, who mean diffrent things even though they are using the same words. All staff need to be aware of the goals we are trying to achieve and share the vision. Integrated service sites must be child friendly spaces. It sounds logical that they are welcoming, inclusive and safe, but it does present a challenge with shared spaces used by a variety of services, when none take the lead role. Judyth and Joanne will draw from a range of theories and models including customer service, hospitality, Herzberg, Circle of Security, and strengths-based.

The South Australian Government has commenced the establishment of 20 integrated Children's Centres for early childhood development and parenting across South Australia as part of a whole of government early childhood agenda. Children's Centres are a new and innovative partnership approach to the delivery of early childhood care, education, health and family support services. Children's Centres will deliver high quality universal, integrated and accessible early childhood programs that promote and improve the health, learning, development and wellbeing of South Australia's young children and their families. The local community has an integral role in governing the Children's Centres and making decisions about the mix of services and programs provided. A long term approach and commitment is required to establish effective partnerships that will strengthen integration at the local level. The presentation will: outline the whole-of-government approach to early childhood; overview the model of integrated Children's Centres for early childhood development and parenting; discuss the whole of government governance arrangements; identify the challenges in effective cross-agency partnerships to support integrated early childhood services.

The Northern Territory is a culturally and linguistically diverse place with one third of the population of Indigenous origin. Many remote communities of the NT are cut off by flooding for several months of the year and most are accessible in the dry season by plane or four wheel drive vehicles only. The Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education is the only Indigenous Tertiary Education Institute in the country servicing the many communities of the Territory and beyond. The Council of Australian Government (COAG)'s national framework for delivering services to Indigenous Australians includes objectives to build partnerships, support capacity building and harness engagement. Training organizations like the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education are taking the cue and developing approaches that foster collaboration and integration to develop more coordinated approaches to the needs identified by the communities and their services. In November 2005 the Batchelor Institute's Early Childhood Unit led a Think Tank of forty people from a number of Children's Service agencies concerned with the well-being of young children in remote Aboriginal communities. The aim of the conference was to identify ways of communicating, collaborating and cooperating in the delivery of support and training for children's services in remote communities. This presentation seeks to show case the Unit's approach and the way in which they work with services that embrace the integrated philosophy. The speakers will draw on inspirational examples from communities in Central Australia, East Arnhem and other regions of the NT. We will describe the inspirational work by the women in these Services and the way in which they develop services for their children, often under the most demanding and adverse conditions.

We now know what early childhood services provide is profoundly important for children, their families and the wider society. Nevertheless, the early childhood field needs to be actively engaged in the process of rethinking of how child and family services can best support families of young children. Exactly how early childhood services need change is still to be determined, although some aspects are clear, including: opening up services to greater parental involvement and to parent / professional partnerships; establishing stronger links with other child and family services including schools; breaking down the barriers between child care and education and achieving integrated, high quality, and accessible early childhood services. The workshop will focus a discussion on strategies to achieve this change including a debate about the benefits and challenges of collaboration collocation and integration.

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Concurrent Session C

"The Centre (Winnunga) is special because people work together from various disciplines and they're taking a birth to old age approach to healthcare. It is very important that we think about people and the whole of their health, not just bits and pieces," (Quote from the President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, after he visited Winnunga in July, 2005). Julie Tongs, CEO of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service in Narrabundah, will explain how Winnunga's one stop shop to health care embraces the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Sector's philosophy of holistic health care and how that philosophy has seen the development of several programs that aid early childhood development. Specifically, these programs include the initiative that was developed five years ago with the Narrabundah Primary School (which has the largest concentration of Indigenous children in the ACT), an initiative that is still evolving and changing to meet changing circumstances; its unique Positive Parenting programs that have been developed in conjunction with the University of Canberra's Psychology Clinic to help Indigenous mothers and fathers; its particularly successful Mums and Bubs Program and Winnunga's latest plans to explain and see greater utilization by the community of the relatively recent Medicare sanctioned Aboriginal Health Checks.

Collarboration in the Review of Government Services: Measuring Whole of Government Performance in Australia

This presentation illustrates the challenges and achievements of achieving whole-of-government collaboration in the Review of Government Services and the lessons learned over the 15 years of the Review.

The Review of Government Service Provision was established in 1993 by the Council of Australian Governments. The key aim of the review is to measure comparative performance of governments across a wide range of service areas. The two key outputs of the review are the Report on Government Services, and the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report.

This presentation will discuss and compare the different approaches to whole of government reporting of the two reports mentioned above, drawing on relevant examples from various service areas in the Report on Government Services, and the strategic areas for action focussed on children in the Indigenous report. The achievements and challenges facing each of these reports will also be covered.

Finally, the presentation will explore some of the lessons learnt from these two whole of government exercises.