Eleven CYPSC met with colleagues in TUSLA Child and Family Agency to learn about an exciting project that aims to make important data on children and young people’s lives more readily available for everyone.
The project is called the Outcomes for Children National Data & Information Hub and is a conjoint initiative between TUSLA and the Policy Innovation Unit, Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA). It will develop a national standardised framework for mapping outcomes, indicators and services for children and young people. It will be accessible for use by all CYPSC and will underpin multi-agency service planning.
The Data and Information Hub will develop one nationally centralised open platform data hub to hold data for all CYPSC areas. The information gathered will create a robust database which will be used to support effective, accessible, integrated, multi-agency, outcomes-based children’s services planning.
Members of the Outcomes for Children National Data & Information Hub project team presented their plans for piloting the project in eleven CYPSC areas in April. This phase 1 of the project will work with the following CYPSC:
- Donegal CYPSC
- Dublin City North CYPSC
- Dublin City South CYPSC
- Dun Laoghaire Rathdown CYPSC
- Fingal CYPSC
- Sligo Leitrim CYPSC
- Kildare CYPSC
- South Dublin CYPSC
- Waterford CYPSC
- Wexford CYPSC
- Wicklow CYPSC
The project has been informed by the ‘Outcomes for Children’ data and information project, which was piloted between 2009 and 2011 in partnership with colleagues in Northern Ireland. At that time a platform was designed to provide and map information for policy makers, service providers, practitioners, information managers and local communities. The project was subsequently extended to the whole of Northern Ireland and is now used as the basis for multi-agency based children services planning throughout Northern Ireland.
As part of TUSLA’s mission to deliver optimal children’s services, the Outcomes for Children National Data & Information Hub marks a positive step in understanding the strengths, needs and gaps existing in Ireland in children’s services at local, regional and national level. National outcome indicators will be developed in alignment with Government’s ‘Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures National Policy Framework for Children and Young People’.
TUSLA has completed three intensive project workshops to consider the scope of the proposed system and to ensure effective and co-ordinated national planning of children services. Planning for the national project will be fully inclusive of all statutory and community and voluntary sector organisations. It will produce data to strengthen the development and delivery of a comprehensive approach in supporting children and young people to realise their rights and potential to the fullest. Results based accountability training will be offered in the Autumn of 2017 to the eleven CYPSC involved in phase one.
With full institutional support across the highest levels in TUSLA it is understood that effective data systems are fundamental to optimising national strategies for children and young people’s services and to underpinning TUSLA’s lead role with Children and Young People’s Services Committees.
Funded by TUSLA-Child and Family Agency under the Development and Mainstreaming Programme funded by Atlantic Philanthropies and the Quality and Capacity Building Initiative, Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
For more information on the Outcomes for Children National Data and Information Hub Project Click here
For a presentation on the Outcomes for Children National Data and Information Hub Project Click here
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