Ms Hilary McAlea:

I thank the committee for inviting me to make a statement on behalf Corpus Christi Primary School. Corpus Christi, through its Moyross education support programme, which is supported by philanthropy, Rethink Ireland and the Limerick Regeneration programme, has independently adopted a whole-school wrap-around model approach to supporting children and families. This is also known as a community partnership network model, which is, in essence, the delivery of therapeutic and family support services at our newly built and philanthropically-funded integrated wellness hub on-site in the school, namely, the Corpus Christi Family Centre.

Our model is based on models of best practice in the US, such as the Harlem Children’s Zone, City Connects and the University of Central Florida’s community partnership network model. In the United States, government policy has looked to increase the awareness of the links between adverse childhood events, ACEs, and the necessity for multi-agency collaboration that has driven the concept of intergovernmental departments working together. In Ireland, I am delighted to say I am hearing about how the Government is now looking at establishing a no wrong door policy, whereby no matter what door a person knocks on somebody will respond to his or her bespoke needs and not refer that individual to another door. In Corpus Christi Primary School, community services such as psychological interventions, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, after-school programmes, nurture club, and employment and housing supports, address the needs of the children and families in Moyross in a way that meets them where they are at in their own community, rather than the ad hocmanner in which children in Ireland access vital public services, a system that we know first-hand has had less impact for the children and families in our school.

In tune with our new model of delivery, we are now broadening our service provision to the families and members of the local community as they face challenges in housing, training and employment, areas that have a direct and immediate effect on children. We are also looking at supporting local primary schools to develop their own community partnership network model. Regeneration in Limerick sowed the seed for dynamic system change in how we could potentially support all families in Ireland. The importance of this initial investment from the Government and European structural and investment funds, ESIF, cannot be underestimated. Once Corpus Christi began to show how our innovative model of child and family support can work in schools in Ireland, we were able to approach philanthropists both here in Ireland and abroad. Following on from this, we were chosen by Rethink Ireland as a project under the youth mental health fund. Rethink Ireland has helped us to amplify and deepen our impact in the school and begin to sow the seeds of change across Limerick.

All children and all families in Ireland should be able to access bespoke supports in their own communities. Ireland is ready for deep system change. Our model of therapeutic and family support has been achieved thanks to close community-based collaboration among other actors in the statutory, community, voluntary and private sectors. We have succeeded in providing easier access to tailored and flexible services that support the children and their families' actual needs. These supports help families to make positive changes that enable them to have productive, happy, fulfilled lives. All stakeholders involved in the project recognise the need to move past a siloed, profession-centric approach when working with vulnerable families. A moral compass permeates the relationships between key players in Limerick City and County Council, the HSE, Tusla, Mary Immaculate College, MIC, Technological University of the Shannon, TUS, University of Limerick, UL, Engage and philanthropy in Limerick.

Public funding is limited but the will among key stakeholders to change the status quo is gathering momentum in Limerick. Sheer hard work and a shared vision have brought us to where we are. Policy formulation that directly benefits the children of Ireland should be the primary statutory responsibility of Government interdepartmental partners in the areas of housing, enterprise, trade and employment, poverty, policing, social and family affairs, education and health. The Ministers and Secretaries General from each of the Departments responsible for these areas should have a statutory duty to work together as a group to streamline supports and create a working synergy, whereby supports and interventions are delivered directly on the ground in local schools and community hubs. There is a need to revise outdated and restrictive arrangements in current working practices within Government agencies that do not serve the best interests of our children. Unconditional positive regard, care and empathy are what are needed for children and families in Ireland.