ParentLine’s focus is early intervention. This is why ParentLine has taken the opportunity to manage the ‘Small Sparks Project’. Small Sparks is funded under the ‘Communities for Children: connecting the inner north program’, part of the Australian Governments Stronger Families and Communities Strategy, and is a key area of the National Agenda for Early Childhood. The Communities for Children Initiative is funded in forty five sites across Australia. The initiative is a collaborative approach which seeks to achieve better outcomes for children from birth to five years and their families. The Initiative recognises that protective factors such as good antenatal and maternal health and nutrition, positive attention and communication from parents, family harmony, and connection to social networks can offset outcomes of drug dependency, school failure, welfare dependency, poor health and criminal behaviour. The initiative recognises effective early childhood intervention is not only about supporting young children, but also families, neighborhoods and the wider community.
Canberra’s Communities for Children site is the inner north of Canberra. It encompasses Ainslie, Braddon, Dickson, Downer, Lyneham, O’Connor, Turner, Reid and Watson. The site was identified as an area of considerable disadvantage for early childhood development. It includes neighborhoods of significant poverty within otherwise affluent suburbs.
North Side Community Service is the facilitating partner and is responsible for leading the project with the support of a committee and a team of community partners. The Community Partner team is ParentLine, ACT Playgroups, Barnardos, Companion House, & the YMCA. The Community Partners are all advocates of early childhood intervention and have the expertise and networks to run Communities for Children events and projects. The initiative is a whole of community approach with a strong emphasis on collaboration to achieve excellent, sustainable outcomes.
ParentLine’s Small Sparks Project aims to promote ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. Small Spark’s role is to facilitate the development of supportive relationships between community service agencies, voluntary groups, community networks, businesses, and peak bodies. Small sparks works to enhance the knowledge and skill levels of the community and volunteer groups, and to provide mentoring to community groups wishing to replicate successful early intervention approaches. Its role is to find small sparks that will build the capacity of the local community to create child friendly communities.
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