Family Service Centres

Peter Kennedy

One of the few spending initiatives announced by the Government in the 1993 Budget was the establishment of six pilot family service centres in socially disadvantaged communities, aimed at providing education, health and social services to families with young children. They are part of the Government strategy to break cycles of intergenerational disadvantage and improve the ability of families to be self-reliant. Funding is for three years and a full evaluation of the pilot will be undertaken.

This paper describes the background to the project, the services to be provided through the centres (including health services and Hippy, the Home Instruction Programme for Preschool Youngsters), and the process being followed to establish them. Finally some of the issues that have arisen during the establishment process are discussed. For example, there has been resistance from some provider groups to the Government imposing a service model they had no part in developing, and many in the early childhood sector opposed the importation of yet another highly prescriptive overseas programme. The fact that that the centres are fully funded, and the high level of funding, has also been commented on by existing social service providers in the pilot locations.