What is KidsMatter Early Childhood?
KidsMatter Early Childhood is a national mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention initiative specifically developed for early childhood services. It is being conducted in partnership with beyondblue: the National Depression Initiative, the Australian Psychological Society and Early Childhood Australia. It aims to assist preschool and long day care services to implement evidence-based mental health strategies that will:- improve the mental health and wellbeing of children from birth to school age
- reduce mental health problems in children; and
- achieve greater support for children and their families experiencing mental health difficulties.
Why is this important?
The mental health and wellbeing of Australian children is an important concern of the Government. Research has shown that many mental health problems among adults have their origins in childhood. A child in good mental health is more likely to have good prospects in later life, performing better in education, employment and the development of relationships.Australian research indicates that between four per cent and 14 per cent of children aged from 18 months to three years have mental health problems such as anxiety, social withdrawal and high levels of aggression. These figures are similar to those reported for preschoolers and infants in international studies.
There is a solid body of evidence indicating that helping children build resilience leads to better mental health. In addition, if children with mental health difficulties are identified early and their condition managed, they will be less likely to have poor mental health outcomes as adults.
Who benefits?
Investing in early childhood programs can have a lasting impact for children, families and the broader community, resulting in potential long-term economic benefits for society as a whole.KidsMatter Early Childhood will benefit children, parents and staff involved with long day care centres and preschools. KidsMatter Early Childhood helps children strengthen their resilience to cope with change, manage their emotions and improve their relationships and therefore build on their capacity to thrive in the years ahead. It will reinforce good mental health among all children and lead to the prevention and earlier identification of mental health difficulties as they arise.
What is KidsMatter Early Childhood delivering?
Kidsmatter Early Childhood is being piloted in 2010 and 2011 in over 100 preschools and long day care centres Australia-wide.KidsMatter Early Childhood pilot sites develop and implement a comprehensive plan to address four key areas:
- creating a sense of community
- developing children’s social and emotional skills
- working with parents and carers; and
- helping children who are experiencing mental health difficulties.
Early childhood services that participate in this pilot initiative are provided with:
- a guiding framework
- resources, implementation tools, suggested strategies and staff fact sheets
- a KidsMatter Early Childhood Facilitator who supports the service (one in each State and Territory)
- professional development for staff; and
- information and resources for parents and carers
How does it work?
KidsMatter Early Childhood provides a framework to enable long day care and preschool teachers and staff, parents and carers to work together to create settings that better support children’s social and emotional wellbeing needs.KidsMatter Early Childhood Facilitators are engaged across all states and territories to work collaboratively with the pilot sites to provide expert advice, training information and resources. The Facilitators support the pilot sites to develop their capacity to promote children’s mental health and wellbeing and to respond effectively to the mental health concerns of the children in their care.
Each pilot site will establish a leadership team to plan and oversee implementation. A key role of the leadership team, with the support of the Facilitator, is to develop, implement and continuously review a KidsMatter Early Childhood Plan. The Plan will be delivered through the provision of evidence-based learning opportunities and resources for staff, parents and carers to enhance their capacity to support the children in their care.
A range of resources are made available, including a website www.kidsmatter.edu.au.
What funding is attached to this program?
On 5 October 2009, the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, announced funding of $6.5 million (GST inclusive) over three years to develop KidsMatter Early Childhood and conduct an Australia-wide pilot.beyondblue: the National Depression Initiative is also contributing $2.6 million (GST exclusive) to fund the evaluation of the pilot and employ KidsMatter Early Childhood Facilitators in each state and territory over the duration of the two year pilot.
When did KidsMatter Early Childhood start?
KidsMatter Early Childhood began in 2008 with planning, development and establishment of partnerships between beyondblue: the Australian Psychological Society and Early Childhood Australia to expand the successful KidsMatter Primary School framework to the early childhood sector.How is KidsMatter Early Childhood progressing?
Piloting has commenced for the KidsMatter Early Childhood initiative, with 111 long day care centres and preschools commencing from all states and territories across Australia. Piloting will continue throughout 2011 and includes the participation of approximately 10,600 children and 1,300 staff.Flinders University of South Australia, which also conducted the evaluation of the KidsMatter Primary initiative, has been contracted by beyondblue for the evaluation of KidsMatter Early Childhood.
Further information
Please see the web page www.kidsmatter.edu.au for further information about KidsMatter.Please see the webpage http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/ec/faqs/ for Frequently Asked Questions about KidsMatter Early Childhood.
Page currency, Latest update: 08 August, 2011