Evaluation of Victorian Children's Centres - Literature Review
This literature review was conducted by the Centre for Community Child Health in collaboration with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to identify best practice approaches to the establishment and operation of children’s hubs. The review examined:
- best practice models both nationally and internationally related to the development of integrated children’s hubs
- examples of innovative centre governance arrangements that promote service integration and include parents in decision-making roles
- the extent to which children’s hubs contribute to improved access to early childhood education for children, provide support for families, promote community cohesion and reduce the impact of social isolation
- barriers that impact on the establishment and operation of integrated services within children’s hubs
- enablers that promote integrated service delivery
- the extent to which children’s hubs encourage communication between staff and families and collaborative practice between service providers.
The review identified a considerable amount of research and practice evidence about multi-agency collaboration and partnerships. It found mixed evidence that indicated building and maintaining true collaboration is not simple or easy. However, much has been learned and the features of effective collaboration are clear.
Because children’s centres are a relatively recent innovation, there is limited evidence of the overall effectiveness of integrated children’s hubs or of the features of best practice. Nevertheless, the researchers concluded that it is possible to extrapolate from the more general literature on collaboration and partnership a coherent set of best practices to guide the introduction and consolidation of children’s centres in Victoria.