Increasing Accessibility of integrated ECEC-services to support all families with young children Erasmus Project

Project Title

Increasing Accessibility of integrated ECEC-services to support all families with young children

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Access for disadvantaged; Health and wellbeing; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND
From the perspective of the rights of the child, realizing qualitative and accessible Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is a crucial responsibility for governments, giving each child as much chances as possible. Increasing access to affordable and high quality ECEC is a main challenge in many European countries. Children from low-income and/or immigrant families face barriers to accessing high-quality ECEC.

Multidimensional approaches are needed in ECEC to address child poverty as it poses a multi-faceted, persistent, intergenerational, and both material and immaterial problem, and integration of services in early childhood can be critical in providing comprehensive and aligned support to young children and their families. However, policy segregation at all levels within many early childhood programs currently results in scattered and siloed services that fail to address the holistic needs of young children and their families.

Throughout the whole of Europe, integrated services for parents with young children are growing, in order to assure a qualitative ECEC for all families. These services have different names as ‘family centers’, ‘children’s centers’,… There is a wide variety of what these centers include, what their main purposes are and what kind of families they reach. Despite these differences, they have similar challenges. A huge challenge is the question of how to enhance the accessibility of integrated services for all families, especially those who are most in need of qualitative ECEC, which are vulnerable families and children like migrant children, poor families,…

OBJECTIVES
The aim of the Erasmus+ project ‘Increasing Accessibility of integrated ECEC-Services to support all families with young children’ (IAS) is to exchange ideas and inspiring practices between policy, practice and research on improving accessibility of integrated services for these (vulnerable) families with young children. The exchange of ideas and inspiring practices happens on different levels:

(1) Relation professional/services – families:
* Support professionals to embrace diversity and to handle sensitive to all kinds of families (eg. by creating open meeting places)
* Increase the competences of professionals to interprofessional collaboration and leadership
* Support the social work approach to empower families
* Integration of multiple services (e.g. social, health, ECEC, Non Governmental Organisation (NGO)) .
(2) Role Policy Makers:
*Support policy makers in looking for relevant indicators and outcome results on an improved accessibility of ECEC
*Guarantee the effectiveness of ECEC, in the way that they are accessible for all.

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES AND PARTICIPANTS
Each partner country did document analyses on relevant practice and policy which was elaborated in ‘country reports’ that documents relevant policy, research and practice of the organization of ECEC in each country.
Focus groups were held with practitioners, policy makers, researchers focusing on accessibility and integrated services. The overarching results and policy recommendations are included in a concluding report. In addition, in three partner countries a 3 day-meeting (IAS-meeting) was organized, combining study visits to inspiring practices, with discussion and working tables on a theme linked to the abovementioned questions. The Slovenian and Norwegian meeting was transformed into an online seminar with virtual study visits, presentations and discussions. From each partner, four professionals (a mix of practitioners, researchers and policy officers) joined the IAS-meetings.

PLANNING
• December 2018: Belgium
• April 2019: Poland
• October 2019: Finland
• March 2021: Virtual – Slovenia
• May 2021: Virtual – Norway

IMPACT
The focus groups, international meetings and inspiring topics gave input for the online IAS-platform, a web-page hosted by the Belgian partner.
It was dissemenated by every partner at different levels within each country through common and well-known online channels. It is meant to inspire and support practices as well as policy and research. Looking to the evaluation report of the participants of the IAS-project, this objective was definitely realised.

LONGER TERM BENEFITS
The ‘IAS-approach’ could be inspiring to furher explore the European council recommendation of 14 June 2021 on establishing a European Child Guarantee. It could be an option that all member states elaborate inspiring topics on a specific aspect of the recommendation. This could be shared on a European platform, inspiring all member states to achieve the objectives of the recommendation in creating affordable ECEC-services and health services for all children, especially the most vulnerable. Child poverty remains a huge challenge and qualitative, affordable ECEC is a huge key in combatting the circle of disadvantage.

Project Website

https://expoo.be/ias

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 67670 Eur

Project Coordinator

Opgroeien Regie & Country: BE

Project Partners

• UNIWERSYTET MIKOLAJA KOPERNIKA W TORUNIU
• TERVEYDEN JA HYVINVOINNIN LAITOS
• UNIVERSITETET I TROMSOE – NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET
• Javni zavod Mala ulica – Center za otroke in druzine v Ljubljani
• VERNIEUWING IN DE BASISVOORZIENINGEN VOOR JONGE KINDEREN