ECEC to work with child protection and children’s health

The Creating Better Futures website launched last week with the aims of refining practice and promoting partnership between early childhood education and care (ECEC) and the child protection and health sectors, all working together to support children and families who are experiencing difficulties.

The site, which includes a range of online resources and a printable handbook, is based on research conducted by the University of Technology Sydney, and is described as being “for all those working with families in need of support”

It describes the key findings of the research and explains how linked tools and resources can be used to reflect on practice, and help to make every moment professionals have with families count.

Over 170 people involved in services supporting families of young children were involved in both the research and the creation of the site, and their feedback about features of practice formed the cornerstone of making positive change happen for families.

The resource features explanations, reflective questions, and questions to explore with parents, with the intention of enabling helpers and parents to enhance outcomes by fine tuning things which are already working most effectively.

The research analysis focused on the ingredients of impactful partnership between families and the professionals helping them – impactful partnerships are those which are purposeful and lead to positive change in families. Relationships founded on mutual respect were a core component of the research, as well as teams of people working with families, using what they each know to produce something new.

Project authors emphasised that professionals and families working in unison could produce a range of different outcomes such as new insights, understandings, knowledge, solutions and relationships.

Resources on the website are divided into five sections which are non sequential – readers and users of the website can ‘jump’ to any section which is of interest, and the sections do not require previous knowledge of any other section to be used. That said, the report authors highlighted the “special value” in the whole story that is presented, and encouraged site users to review the key findings from each section, along with the overview page, to inform decision making about which sections would be of most use.

Each section of the website describes the relevant findings and concepts, and has a related worksheet. Reading each section and completing the worksheet may be recognised as professional development hours, if documented appropriately. Certificates of Completion can be obtained by emailing [email protected]