THE WORK of more than 100 family resource centres which provide parenting support, childcare and training to thousands of people in disadvantaged communities is being threatened by proposed cutbacks.
That is the warning from the Family Resource Centre National Forum which is launching a campaign to fight spending cuts recommended in the McCarthy report on public spending, also known as “An Bord Snip Nua”.
The report advocates closing the Family Support Agency, the State body with responsibility for funding some 107 family resource centres across the country, saving an estimated €30 million.
However, Packie Kelly, chairman of the forum, said closure of the agency would threaten all family resource centres and have a crippling effect on local economies and communities.
“This recommendation is presented in the report in terms of closing an expensive State agency, a luxury we can no longer afford. However, nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.
“Some €18 million of the Family Support Agency’s budget is spent directly on the family resource centre programme. This money funds the work of 107 centres, which are visited by almost one million people on a yearly basis to access essential services and facilities.”
Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin has declined to comment on specific recommendations set out in the McCarthy report, except to say all proposals will be given due consideration.
Mr Kelly said the centres operate in some of the most disadvantaged areas in the State, providing much-needed access to education and training, childcare facilities, counselling services and parenting support.
“The harsh reality of the economic downturn is that social problems are on the increase in Ireland. Unemployment is rising and as a result the pressures on families are increasing,” he said.
“Now more than ever, the supports provided by family resource centres are needed. Rather than closing or reducing the family resource centre programme, it will need to be supported, developed and possibly even expanded over the coming years.”
The forum insists that the centres represent excellent value for money by allowing other community and voluntary groups to use their facilities.
In 2008, for example, it estimates that community and voluntary groups used family resource centres over 16,000 times to host meetings, and over 41,000 times to use project facilities.
In addition, it says over 10,000 adults availed of education and training courses in the centres, thereby increasing their chances of returning to employment or gaining higher-skilled work.
“Furthermore, we provide affordable childcare services throughout the country – including pre-school and after-school care – which means parents can join the workforce or engage in training courses with a view to up-skilling themselves,” Mr Kelly said.
“Our centres employ over 300 staff members, but hundreds more people are involved on a voluntary basis. Indeed, every single family resource centre is managed by a team of local volunteers.”
A key part of the forum’s campaign to resist cutbacks will centre on lobbying TDs and highlighting the long-term benefits of the work of resource centres.
It points to research from the US, for example, which indicates that investing just $600 in targeted early childhood education in disadvantaged communities saves society on average $15,000 per child in lower future crime rates.
“These are just some of the ways in which resource centres actually contribute to their local economies and to the wellbeing of the country overall,” Mr Kelly said.