Bid to give best start

By Paul Dunlop
CHILDREN’S services in and around Pakenham will get an $800,000 boost over four years in a bid to ensure kids get the best possible start in life.
The funding will be used to bolster early childhood development programs and increase support for parents in a bid to improve children’s education, health, behaviour and well being.
Victorian Minister for Children Sherryl Garbutt announced the funding last Wednesday at a gathering of Cardinia Shire Council officials and local service providers at Cardinia Cultural Centre.
Ms Garbutt said the Best Start program aimed to improve the health, development, learning and well being of children from pre-natal to primary school age.
“It will also better coordinate early years services and identify any local gaps such as maternal and child health services and kindergartens,” she said.
She said Cardinia Shire had been chosen as a priority site because of its rapid growth.
Ms Garbutt said the program would provide parents with better access to support and health services and aimed to make the parenting experience more enjoyable.
Best Start aims to:
•Result in better access to child and family support, health services and early education;
•Improve the capacity and confidence of parents-to-be, parents and families to care for children and help them to enjoy parenting;
•Assist communities to become more child friendly.
“We want people to enjoy childhood and family life. It is supposed to be fun. We want children to make the most of their precious childhood years,” Ms Garbutt said.
The funding announcement was welcomed by Cardinia Shire chief executive officer Don Welsh, who said it was wonderful news. He said supporting the rapidly-growing young population was among the council’s highest priorities.
Mr Welsh said the council was under unprecedented pressure in terms of providing facilities for young families, particularly in the growth area around Pakenham, Officer and Beaconsfield.
Mr Welsh said studies had shown that the local community and other interface areas around Melbourne’s outskirts had a higher than average number of parents with post-natal depression and intervention orders.
He said these “sobering” indicators, coupled with expectations that Pakenham’s population of children aged 0 to four years of age would more than double in the next 20 years, highlighted the need for programs such as Best Start. The CEO paid tribute to the State Government for its continuing support. Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato said she had seen the Best Start program work successfully in other communities.
Service providers also welcomed the announcement, saying early intervention and improved education, health care, and nutrition, which are all aims of Best Start, are vital for a child’s wellbeing.
Council is consulting with local groups to develop a registration of interest submission to help determine where the Best Start site should be located and when the project should begin.