The Impact on Service Collaboration of Co-location of Early Childhood Services in Tasmanian Child and Family Centres: An Ethnographic Study.

Kim Jose,Alison Venn,M’Lynda Stubbs,Emily Hansen,Stephen R Zubrick,Catherine L Taylor,David B Preen,Joel Stafford,Rachael Jones,Susan Banks

doi:10.5334/ijic.5581

Abstract

Introduction:There is a global trend towards place-based initiatives (PBIs) to break the cycle of disadvantage and promote positive child development. Co-location is a common element of these initiatives and is intended to deliver more coordinated services for families of young children. This paper examines how co-locating early childhood services (ECS) from health and education in Child and Family Centres (CFCs) has impacted collaboration between services.Methods:This ethnographic study included 130 participant observation sessions in ECS between April 2017 and December 2018 and semi-structured interviews with 45 early childhood service providers and 39 parents/carers with pre-school aged children.Results:Service providers based in CFCs reported that co-location of services was facilitating local cooperation and collaboration between services. However, insufficient information sharing between services, prioritising client contact over collaborative practice and limited shared professional development remained barriers to collaborative practice. For parents, co-location improved access to services, but they experienced services independently of each other.Discussion and Conclusion:Co-location of ECS in CFCs contributed to greater cooperation and collaboration between services. However, for the potential of CFCs to be fully realised there remains a need for governance that better integrates service policies, systems and processes that explicitly support collaborative practice.

Highlights

There is a global trend towards place-based initiatives (PBIs) to break the cycle of disadvantage and promote positive child development
This paper addresses the question “what is the impact of co-location of early childhood services in Tasmanian Child and Family Centres (CFCs) on collaboration between service providers from health and education and integration within the early childhood sector?” The results presented were produced within the Tassie Kids Study which is a partnership between researchers and the Tasmanian Departments of Health, Education, and Premier and Cabinet focused on the investigating the uptake and reach of universal early childhood service system
Child Health and Parenting Service (CHaPS) nurse (N2), Launching into Learning (LiL) staff (LiL5), CFC staff member (CFC3) and for nurses or LiL service providers whether they were based in a CFC or not (CFC-based, or non-CFC based)

Summary

Introduction

There is a global trend towards place-based initiatives (PBIs) to break the cycle of disadvantage and promote positive child development. This paper examines how co-locating early childhood services (ECS) from health and education in Child and Family Centres (CFCs) has impacted collaboration between services. The Australian state of Tasmania adopted a placebased service delivery model in 2009, co-locating early childhood services (ECS) from health and education in Child and Family Centres (CFCs). Health services commonly focus on improving integrating services across the continuum of care (i.e., prevention, community, hospital and tertiary services) This is referred to as vertical integration and while important for addressing issues of care fragmentation [10, 11], may be insufficient to meet the needs of families facing multiple adversities.

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