Abstract

Best Start - Working Together for our Children's Future - A Victorian Government Early Years Place Based Preventative Initiative

Author(s)

Frederick Ackerman -Deparment of Education and Early Childhood Development

Ms Katherine Cape -Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria

Best Start is a Victorian Government place based early years' initiative that has a strong emphasis on prevention and early intervention. 30 Best Start sites have been established across Victoria (including six Aboriginal Best Start sites).

Best Start aims to improve the health, development, learning and wellbeing of children from 0-8 years of age. This is achieved by bringing together local partnerships of parents and service providers to develop and implement a local action plan to drive improvements in child outcomes.

Improving universal early years' services so that they are more responsive to local need and inclusive of vulnerable children and their families is also a key objective of Best Start action plans.

Local partnerships are supported by data and resources developed by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, including community profiles and a Catalogue of Evidence Base Interventions.

A University of Melbourne evaluation of Best Start, that produced its final report in 2006, identified that Best Start had been successful in improving outcomes in a number of areas, including increasing breastfeeding rates and participation rates in maternal and child health services, and in improving service coordination and responsiveness.

This presentation will provide conference participants with an insight into the workings of Best Start, an innovative early years preventative and early intervention program that is supported by a comprehensive policy and evidence base but which also 'thinks and acts locally'.