Children and Families - from the NICVA Policy Manifesto
Posted by Feargal O'Kane on Feb 12 2007 under Children and families, Policy Manifesto |
Since the last policy manifesto the needs of children and families have been steadily moving up the policy agenda. The creation of a post of Minister for Children in Northern Ireland is welcome and should be protected in any new arrangements that emerge as a result of the Review of Public Administration.
Having cut the Children’s Fund in late 2005 and placed many services for children and young people in Northern Ireland at risk, in early 2006 the government established the Priority Children and Young People’s Funding Package (2006/2008) which comprises a number of cross-cutting themes and measures targeted at vulnerable children and young people in Northern Ireland. In relation to the OFMDFM strategy ‘Children and Young People – Our Pledge; A Ten Year Strategy For Children and Young People In Northern Ireland 2006/2016’ the sector particularly welcomes the government’s recognition of the interconnectedness of children’s lives such as links between good health and good education outcomes and between poverty and poor health outcomes.
However despite this increased focus on the needs of children and families many of the action points recommended in this manifesto have reminded unchanged since 2003. The rights of children and their families in Northern Ireland have been breached by the introduction of ASBOs and the recently launched ten year Strategy for Children and Young People, though generally welcome, falls far short of being the implementation plan for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as was originally envisaged. This illustrates the fact that we now need to see a crossgovernment action plan to implement the Strategy informed by the framework of the UNCRC and addressing the outstanding recommendations of the UNCRC in it 2002. The Children and Young People’s Fund needs to be rolled out in a transparent and assessable format as a matter of urgency.
Room for Improvement; a manifesto for children in NI (see www.nch.org.uk) emphasised that ‘every child deserves the chance to reach their full potential and no child should be forgotten or invisible in our society. All children and young people should have someone to turn to for help, support and advice whenever they need it’. When planning children’s and family services it is important to remember that many children experience multiple disadvantages as a result of their race,
ethnicity, religion, sexuality, disability or membership of a minority group, such as Travellers and family circumstances, eg the 11,000 children in Northern Ireland living with domestic violence.
Their voices are frequently unheard or forgotten. Investment in preventative measures and early intervention is also vital. Families and parents should be defi ned in their broadest sense and it is important that attention is paid to the holistic needs of children and young people and the family unit they live in – whatever form that might take. Support must be for all children, not just those living in areas with access to Sure Start. The voice of children must be central to decision-making processes that affect their lives and public authorities must ensure they are engaging appropriately with all children regardless of their age.
Government and political parties should:
- Ensure Departmental Action Plans and related policies and strategies, such as the Anti-Poverty Strategy demonstrate a clear sense of inter-connectedness and joined-up working. They should explicitly address the high rates of child and infant mortality and high levels and incidence of child poverty, disability and/or child and adolescent mental ill health in Northern Ireland and inequalities in educational attainment which tend to impact especially on most disadvantaged children.
- Ensure the government’s forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review (2007) redresses the gross under-funding of child and family services in Northern Ireland, compared to spending levels elsewhere in the UK.
- Support and advocate for equal protection for children under the law - a ban on physical punishment of children and young people in Northern Ireland and the comprehensive development of educational initiatives on positive parenting.
- Public authorities should be held to account for their Section 75 obligations to ensure that children are afforded equality of opportunity in policy and practice, and that they are properly consulted.
- Ensure that the Family Support and Parenting Strategy is developed in partnership with key stakeholders including parents and children. The strategy should have clear vision and action points and relate to existing strategies such as the Strategy for Children and Young People and the new Anti-poverty Strategy.
- Implement the recommendations of the Getting it right for Children when Parents Separate or Divorce report. In support of this there should be provision of free and confidential family mediation services and social workers with specialist training in family breakdown.
- Ensure quality, accessible and affordable registered childcare places for all children are available in all areas of Northern Ireland.
- Provide clear information and guidance to all stakeholders on the implementation of extended school hours programmes including the role of the voluntary and community sector and its impact on the personal development of children and young people.
- In the context of A Shared Future support developments to expand and resource integrated education.
- Support initiatives designed to combat bullying.
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