¡°Child hunger and lack of access to emotional counsellors need to be addressed in new Children¡¯s Strategy¡± - Prof Paul Downes

A national forum on resilient inclusive systems for vulnerable groups was hosted by the DCU Educational Disadvantage Centre on the St Patrick¡¯s Campus this week. The event aimed to inform the new Irish National Children¡¯s Strategy which will replace the existing ¡®Better Outcomes Brighter Futures¡¯. 

Speaking at the event, Professor of Psychology, Paul Downes, Director of the Educational Disadvantage Centre, stressed the importance of addressing key limitations in the current strategy and to confront the reality of a dramatically changed situation for children¡¯s lives in light of the pandemic and the refugees¡¯ arrivals from Ukraine.

¡°A demonstrably stronger antipoverty focus is required, one that identifies real needs of concrete vulnerable groups such as those experiencing trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Key system failures such as child hunger, school suspensions and reduced timetables, and lack of flexible immediate access to specialist emotional counsellors/therapists in schools require explicit planning to maintain its credibility.

The current Children¡¯s policy framework divides areas into health or education or welfare or social protection or community, based on 5 distinct national outcomes. A new post pandemic social contract for children and young people is needed to bridge these departmental silos through multidisciplinary teams and local community 1 stop shops of services based in one location to support children, young people and their families. It is hoped that this Forum will contribute to a wider discussion on systems and vulnerable groups to inform this new National Children¡¯s Policy Framework.¡±

The Forum featured a keynote address from Professor Michael Ungar, the Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience, Dalhousie University. Prof Ungar spoke about promoting resilient systems in response to the Covid pandemic to inform the new Strategy: 

 ¡°The comprehensive national policy framework for children and young people has helped make every level of Irish government aware of its role in promoting and protecting children¡¯s wellbeing. The next step, though, must build bridges between systems to create the multisystemic, seamless supports that children and families need while also asking the tough questions regarding which children, facing which set of risks, require which specific services that are best matched to their complex needs. This will take more than documenting broad changes in national statistics. To truly never leave any child behind will require careful consideration of the different ways services and supports are used by children and a sincere willingness to break out of professional and institutional siloes when responding to families that are most vulnerable.¡±

This keynote presentation was followed by a panel discussion with contributions from Prof Sheila Greene, Trinity College Dublin; ?ine Lynch, CEO National Parents¡¯ Council; Joy McGlynn, Interim Director, Tusla Education Support Service; and Tanya Ward, CEO Children¡¯s Rights Alliance.

Panelist at the Forum, ?ine Lynch CEO of the National Parents Council, said:  

"The pandemic has further exacerbated a number of fundamental weaknesses in our system that were already evident before. In particular mental health supports for children are now at a critical breaking point at a time when post pandemic, children are struggling even more. NPC believes the best way to address the mental health needs of children is through early intervention and prevention and research shows us that providing specialist mental health supports in schools is an impactful way of doing this."

At the event, Professor Sheila Greene, former ProChancellor at Trinity College Dublin and Professor of Childhood Education, launched the new book of Prof Paul Downes 'Reconstructing Agency in Developmental and Educational Psychology: Inclusive Systems as Concentric Space'. Published by Routledge, the book examines key themes for developing concentric spatial systemic responses in education, including school climate, bullying, violence, early school leaving prevention and students¡¯ voices. It also proposes an innovative framework of agency as movement between concentric and diametric spatial relations for a reconstruction of resilience.