Better Outcomes Brighter Futures

Nine submissions (Tusla, Barnardos, NYCI, DSP, SPMHS, AAI, ACAMI, CIB, staff member 5) called for the publication and implementation of a successor to BOBF to ensure the continuation of a multidimensional, whole-of-Government approach to achieving positive outcomes for children. Staff member 5 suggested that it may be helpful to include a list of which BOBF indicators DCEDIY is responsible for and what the targets are for 2022, as well as an outline of the progress so far. Tusla requested there be greater visibility and focus on outcomes measurement. Tusla, Barnardos and DSP recommended close collaboration between Departments and agencies to ensure alignment of policy and service delivery. The DSP suggested that the ad hoc child poverty group formed between their Department and the BOBF Advisory Council was a model of positive engagement on the BOBF mid-term review. They recommended expanding this collaboration model across other Departments.

The majority of these submissions requested that adequate funding is allocated to realising the goals of the BOBF successor. Barnardos, ACAMI and AAI mentioned that some of the policy goals in the current BOBF have not yet been achieved, and recommended adequate resourcing and a more targeted approach to implementation to achieve both these goals and those of its successor. For example, ACAMI and AAI suggested there has been a lack of progress in relation to children living with parental alcoholism, and recommended that services working with children and families – including educational and criminal justice services – are incentivised to become more “traumainformed”. SPMHS, meanwhile, requested that the BOBF successor focus on responding to the mental health impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on children.