Mr. Padraig Mallon:

On behalf of our founder, Ms Kate Jarvey, head of services, Ms Colette Cahill, and service user, Ms Aileen Buckley, and our colleagues, Sarah Haight and Sariah Toze, from Ascend who are joining us from Washington DC, I thank the committee for the opportunity to share details of what we do at Crann, why it is important and the outcomes and impact we are having for children, adults and families living with neuro-physical disabilities.

For these families unavailability of key services and a lack of co-ordination in service delivery mean social isolation, a lack of normality as a family, lack access to educational and career opportunities and loss of hope. At Crann we have a unique solution focused on a co-ordinated care plan and wrap-around services for the whole family, enabling them to not only deal with these issues but to thrive. This is our two generation, 2Gen, approach. The Crann Centre, based in Ovens, County Cork, was established in 2014.

Our clients include children, adults and families living with spina bifida, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, arthrogryposis, acquired spinal injuries and stroke. These are complex conditions which significantly impact on the fabric of the family requiring lifelong clinical care and intensive in-community supports. There are more than 7,000 people in Munster living with a neuro-physical disability. In addition, there are more than 20,000 family members whose lives are impacted, all requiring services and supports. Nationally this number increases to almost 100,000. We currently support 300 Munster-based families and our strategic vision is to support more than 600 families in the next three years.

Our services focus on six key areas comprising health and continence; psychological well-being; mobility; education and career pathways; community and networks; and independent living. In a few moments our colleagues at Ascend will share details of the 2Gen approach and how a network of organisations across the United States use it to help improve family well-being. Crann is the first organisation in the Ascend network and the first in Europe to adapt this 2Gen approach for disability services. Why? It is because disability affects all family members and if the person with the disability is to thrive, it is not enough for them to get the supports they need. Their parents, carers and siblings need supports too. This is why our 2Gen approach works, because it serves all family members simultaneously.

Our key strategic priority is building a sustainably-funded organisation. We are totally reliant on fundraising. We do not receive any annual statutory funding. An equitable level of statutory support is a key priority for us. We have submitted a comprehensive business case to the HSE for a service level agreement, SLA, for our continence clinic. This service is recognised by the HSE team, consultants, urologists, clinicians and community health doctors as being a unique and vital addition to services for children, adults and families. Our referrals are increasing weekly. Without the modest annual funding set out in the business case, we cannot guarantee the future of this vital service, which is not available elsewhere. We know that our services are saving the HSE significant money, up to €100,000 for each pressure wound, which we prevent from ultimately requiring hospitalisation. We recently completed a social return on investment evaluation, SROI, which showed that for every €1 we spend on services our clients receive €4 in value, a 400% return on investment.