merrion street

Minister Fitzgerald addresses ‘Working Together for Children’ Conference in Croke Park and launches international Evidence Review of Interagency Working.

Minister for Children & Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald TD has this

morning addressed the ‘Working Together for Children’ Conference in Croke Park. The conference organised by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs brings together participants from the country’s Children’s Services Committees established under the ‘Working Together for Children’

initiative.

The ‘Working Together for Children’ initiative commenced in 2007 with the establishment of four Children’s Services Committees in Donegal, Dublin City, Limerick City and South Dublin. Since then, six more Children’s Services Committees are up and running. Four further counties are also in the process of setting up a Committee.”

Addressing the conference Minister Fitzgerald today affirmed her commitment to completing the nationwide roll-out of Children’s Services Committees and the Minister confirmed that 20 plus Children’s Services Committees will be up-and-running by the end of 2012.

Minster Fitzgerald stated: “I believe that Children’s Services Committees have a real potential to improve outcomes for all children in Ireland by improving and coordinating local services, eliminating fragmentation and duplication and facilitating inter-agency case working.

“Children’s Services Committees are already making a difference by ensuring that local services meet local needs and that rigid barriers which existed between various agencies are broken down once and for all.”

Minster Fitzgerald also launched an international Evidence Review of Interagency Working commissioned by the Centre for Effective Services on behalf of the Department of Children & Youth Affairs and was conducted by Professor June Statham of the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Launching the Evidence Review Minister Fitzgerald stated:

“The Review draws on the best international evidence and extracts key messages for supporting the development of interagency working and the roll-out of Children’s Services Committees. It concludes that there is promising evidence from many countries on the benefits of a more joined up approach. We can see this particularly in relation to positive changes in the accessibility of services to users and an improved experience of service use.

“What also struck me is that effective interagency working creates the ‘permitting circumstances’ for better functioning of front-line services and front-line staff – which therefore ultimately improves the way services for children and families are integrated.”