Context
Equal Start recognises that access to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and school-age childcare (SAC) services is a key prevention and early intervention measure. It is a policy response to addressing childhood disadvantage comprising of a funding model and set of associated universal and targeted measures to support access and participation for children experiencing disadvantage and their families. It supports children from priority target groups, and ECCE and SAC settings with the highest concentration of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Equal Start is rooted in First 5: A Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and Their Families, published in 2018, which set out a government commitment to develop mechanisms to provide additional supports to ECCE and SAC settings where there are high proportions of children who are at risk of poverty to mitigate the impacts of early disadvantage. This commitment reflects the progressive universal approach of First 5 to offer supports and services to all children, with extra provision for children with additional needs or challenges.
The initial roll-out of Equal Start commenced in September 2024. It is envisaged that it will be implemented in full by the end of 2028, which is within the lifetime of the First 5 Strategy.
Objectives
Equal Start supports access to, and participation in, ECCE and SAC for children experiencing disadvantage.
Disadvantage in early childhood poses multiple developmental risks for children, with long-term negative impacts on their life chances. Equal Start recognises that access to ECCE and SAC services is:
- a prevention and early intervention measure
- a key pillar of the response to tackling child poverty.
ECCE services play an important role in children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. SAC services support children’s holistic development, complementing formal education in schools.
Equal Start comprises of universal and targeted measures to support children, settings, and families. The goals of Equal Start are that:
- all children, in particular children experiencing disadvantage, have equitable access and participation in ECCE and SAC settings;
- all ECCE and SAC settings, in particular settings operating in the context of concentrated disadvantage, equitably promote learning and care of children from disadvantaged backgrounds;
- parents and families, in particular parents and families experiencing disadvantage, are empowered with the knowledge, tools, and supports necessary for children to have equitable access and participation in ECCE and SAC.
Implementation
Some 807 settings, almost 20% of all settings in Ireland, have been designated with an Equal Start priority designation. These settings, which serve 37 000 children, identified as operating in a context of concentrated disadvantage, are provided with additional funding supports. These supports enable services to fund additional staff hours, supporting reduced adult–child ratios, engagement with families experiencing disadvantage, staff training, and engagement with wider child and family support services. A key element is Bia Blasta, (‘Delicious Food’), the first preschool nutrition programme of its kind in Ireland.
Achievements to date include:
- roll-out of Bia Blasta for Equal Start preschool services – the engagement and participation of children in learning about and experiencing nutritious foods;
- roll-out of Early Talk Boost – an evidence-based intervention for language delay – to children (initially in priority settings);
- roll-out of the Traveller Parenting Support Programme with responsibilities on Family Link Workers to engage with Traveller parents of young children, supporting them to attend and participate in ECCE;
- appointment of Traveller and Roma Advisory Specialists to work in Better Start to promote inclusive ECCE;
- development of a dedicated Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to help ensure the effective evaluation of the model in the coming years.