Key findings relating to Program issues
The main issues to emerge from the review relate more to the overall rationale and management of the program rather than to the performance of individual projects funded under CAP.
Issues identified in the review include:
- a lack of clear program objectives and indicators
- inconsistent approaches to program management
- the need to strengthen links with other programs funded within FaCS and the Attorney General’s Department
- the need for improved coordination of effort between levels of government in programs to assist parents.
- the difficulty of finding out what programs exist in this area
- the number of pilot programs or short-term programs that do not build on existing infrastructure or allow adequate time frames that can help build sustainable communities
- lack of clarity about where early intervention should be focused – primarily on children’s development in the early years (and thus targeting parents as key agents in children’s successful maturation), or at key transition phases throughout childhood and adolescence.
These issues are interrelated and some have already been identified through the development of the National Agenda for Early Childhood.