Partnership Agenda network newsletter Winter 2008
Contents
- Tackling Unemployment in the South West Inner City
- Love Sport - Love Diversity
- South East Inner City News
- ICON’s Strategic Planning Process
- Dublin Rape Crisis Centre reaches out to New Communities
- Gateway celebrates Achievement
- New Cultural Mediation Project gets underway
Campaign to fight new Childcare Funding System gathers pace
Community childcare providers have warned that the very survival of non-profit childcare services around the country is in doubt as a result of the Government’s new Community Childcare Subvention Scheme.
National and local campaigns are now underway to apply pressure to the Minister for Children, Brendan Smith and officials in the Office of the Minister for Children to reverse the new measures. In October an emergency meeting of inner city community childcare providers took place to launch an action campaign against the new funding regime.
Experienced childcare providers fear that many non-profit childcare facilities will face closure due to the reductions in funding which they will receive under the new scheme. Most community crèches stand to lose significant amounts of funding as a result of changes in the grant system. There are also fears that childcare centres will have to make staff redundant as their funding will not be adequate to pay their current payroll costs. This will lead to a decrease in the quality of the service provided to children and their parents.
Under the new Community Childcare Subvention Scheme the losers will be
- (a) children who will have a much poorer quality of service or no service at all;
- (b) parents who will lose childcare services or will have to pay increased fees that they can ill-afford;
- (c) deprived communities which will lose the benefits of quality childcare provision;
- (d) community childcare services which will lose funding and staff and may have to close.
What exactly is the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme and how will it operate? The Community Childcare Subvention Scheme will replace the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme (and in particular, the staffing grant element of the EOCP ) which will end on December 31 2 007. According to the documentation sent out by POBAL, under the CCSS,
“the level of grant aid to each childcare facility will be based on the number of disadvantaged parents using the service and the level of that service. In turn, the service is expected to discount its fees by the amount of subvention they receive for each qualifying parent”.
The key problem is that the new scheme applies a definition of disadvantage which is extremely narrow and restrictive. Only those parents who are receiving social welfare benefits as their main source of income will qualify in Band A and therefore receive the highest level of subvention (of E80 per week) and have to pay the lowest level of fees to the childcare facility. Only those who qualify for Family Income Supplement, are on FÁS training courses or receiving the Part-time Job Incentive Scheme qualify under Band B which means that they receive the lower level of subvention scheme of E30 per week and have to pay the remainder of the fees for their child’s place in the crèche. All other parents are in Band C which means that the receive no subvention and have to pay the full cost of the fees in the childcare service.
The problems which arise from this new definition of disadvantage are many. The very restricted definition of disadvantage means that those who are working and on low pay but may be just above the income limits for the Family Income Supplement will receive no subvention and will be asked to pay the full cost of their childcare. This could amount to at least E120 per week per child and would clearly be unaffordable for a parent on low pay. It is likely that this would force such parents to give up work and return to living on social welfare so that they could take care of their children at home; in effect, the impact of public policy would be to push them back into a poverty and unemployment trap.
Parents who are engaged in training will also face a dilemma. They will be categorised as Band B and will only be eligible for a subvention of E30 per childcare place per week. This reduced subsidy will mean that they will be liable for greatly increased fees which will simply be unaffordable on their incomes. Many of these parents are likely to be forced to give up training or education and become dependant on social welfare again and return to the poverty and unemployment trap.
The issue of the new Childcare Subvention Scheme has been taken up by many groups in the community and voluntary sector around the country. PLANET, the network of Partnerships has organised a national campaign on the issue and TDs and Senators have been lobbied. Backbench Government TDs have spoken out against their own Government’s policy in the media and in Dail debates. Chris Andrews TD was quoted in the Irish Times of Saturday, November 3 thus:
“The difficulty is that this [the Childcare Subvention Scheme] is an extremely blunt form of means-testing people and it can only serve to reinforce people’s dependency on welfare payments”.
Donegal TD Dr Jim McDaid was quoted as follows:
“In my opinion it’s going to close down quite a few of the community playgroups because the parents who are not social welfare recipients are being asked to bear the extra cost of running them and they’ll simply not be able to do it.”
At a local level in the inner city a working group is gathering case studies of the impact which the new funding arrangements will have on inner city childcare services. It is hoped to use this material as evidence with which to lobby local politicians.
Manuel Alaniz and Marvin Lopez, two artists from Funarte, Esteli, Nicaragua, with the mural which they and the pupils painted in Scoil Muire’s Iosaf and St. Mary’s Place schools. The mural represents aspects of children’s lives in Nicaragua and Ireland and was designed by children in the two schools. Esteli is known as the “city of murals” and Funarte uses murals to raise children’s self-esteem and work on issues such as children’s rights, the environment, gender relations.
Tackling Unemployment in the South West Inner City
Catherine Byrne reports on the establishment of a new Local Employment Service in the South West Inner City The South West Inner City Local Employment Centre (SWIC LEC), one of four local employment service locations that form the DICP’s Inner City Employment Service Network, has recently commenced operations and client support services at 1 08 James Street, Dublin 8. This development completes the DICP’s network of four community-owned and quality assured ICES service providers. The ICES Network with FÁS forms part of the dual-stranded National Employment Service.
The vision of the multi-agency local SWIC LEC Board of Management is for unemployed residents to achieve:
- Equality of treatment with all other jobseekers;
- access to a tailor-made range of employment or employment- related training,
- education and progression-related opportunities.
The LEC service is strategically located within the Digital Hub. It shares its James Street location with the St Frances Community Education Centre. This location also enables the LEC to be continually informed of all available and suitable job opportunities within the Digital Hub companies for future LEC clients.
The SWIC LEC values have a natural fit with the local community-related principles outlined in the Digital Hub Development Plan. This highlights the need to provide employment opportunities for local residents that will result in added value to the existing economy and development of the local community. Therefore what the LEC is promoting is a collaborative local employment strategy to be activated between all of the key organisations and employers in the quadrant area. Such a strategy will ensure that unemployed residents are in a position to avail of all future employment opportunities that become available in the area.
In line with all ICES employment centres, the SWIC LEC has developed its business plan for the initial period of June to Dec ’07. The measures detailed in the LEC’s plan will be used as a guide to the work of the staff team of Manager and three Employment Mediators. It will also be used to measure the success of the service during the DICP review period that will be conducted in early 2008.
The SWIC LEC business plan covers three main areas to ensure its future development. They are:
- Commence Delivery of a Quality-based LEC Service in the Dublin 8 area.
- Promote the LEC to Local Employers as a recruitment channel of first preference for relevant jobs.
- Continuous LEC Service Development.
For further details of the SWIC LEC please contact:
Catherine Byrne,
ICES Manager,
SWIC Local Employment Service,
108 James Street,
Dublin 8
Tel: 01 511260
Email: catherine.byrne@les.fas.ie
LOVE SPORT-LOVE DIVERSITY
In this European Year of Equal Opportunities for All Sport against Racism Ireland is once again in the forward line leading the charge against all forms of discrimination.
This year’s Soccerfest, which took place at the Garda Grounds, Phoenix Park on the weekend 8/9 September, attracted 4,000 visitors to a packed programme of football, dance and music.
With up to 4 8 men’s, 8 women’s and 6 children’s teams competing for fun and awards, the event has become the largest of this type in the country. Now in it’s eleventh year, the festival has expanded to incorporate a football village marketplace to give a platform to SARI partners and solidarity groups including UNICEF, Dublin Aids Alliance, Sport in Action of Zambia and the Irish Campaign against Child Labour along with public information stands including Garda Community and Intercultural Section and a selection of photo images from the forthcoming SARI event, SPOART.
With ongoing support from the Dublin Inner City Partnership, this innovative intercultural event has become a model for other communities around the country who realise the value of using sport as a tool for social inclusion. The winner of the SARI cup was Rocha Insaka-African All Stars who draw their players from nine African countries from Libya to Sierra Leone. Their game with the Garda National Immigration Bureau in the final drew a large crowd who marvelled at the skills of the Irish Under 19 International, Chukwuemeka Onwubiko of Bray Wanderers and the Zimbabwean star, Oscar Sibanda of East Meath United.
Ringsend & District Response to Drugs: Drugs Awareness Week 2007
RDRD hosted the Drugs Awareness week in September, offering a wide range of fun and creative events. The aim was to engage many young people and members of the wider community to participate in the events and highlight the drugs issue in the area.
The week commenced with a service of light and an evening barbeque which was held at the Spellman Centre. The local Parish Priest, Fr Michael Coady who is also a board member of RDRD facilitated the service of light event; the barbeque was prepared by the staff of RDRD, Spellman Centre.
The RDRD soccer event took place over a weekend in the Ringsend & Irishtown sports stadium. This was a nail biting, exciting experience with up to 80 young people participating. All teams put in an energetic display. In the end the team which won was a group of local boys who called themselves “Say No to Drugs”; the runners-up were the Soilse team. Congratulations to all the teams who participated in the event.
The ART competition was fantastic as the local schools in the area participated fully with the event. Children were asked to design posters of Drug Awareness or Against Violence in your Community. The Judges who were the RDRD Board of Management had an extremely difficult job. The winners were presented with portable DVD players and the runners up recieved either digital cameras or family tickets to the cinema.
Teresa Weafer Grennell, Manager of RDRD, said that she believed the highlight of the week was RDRD’s closing event which was held in the local Clanna Gael Hall. Local groups were invited to participate in this event by providing information on the services they provide. Minister Pat Carey was extremely impressed when he met with all the different groups on the night and discussed local issues with them. The following groups had display stands on the night:
- Ringsend & District Response to Drugs
- Ringsend Community Training Centre
- Ringsend Action Project
- Ringsend Poolbeg Training – Rinn Voyager
- Ringsend & Irishtown Community Centre
- Money Advice Budgeting Service
- NEWS 4
- Ringsend & Irishtown Playgroup & Crèche
- Clanna Gael Fotenoy
- Ringsend & Irishtown Youth Service
- Fay Irish Dancers
Betty Ashe and Delores Wilson,staff members of St Andrews Resource Centre and long time supporters of the service in Ringsend, also attended the event. Local political representatives Ruairi Quinn TD, Chris Andrews TD and Councillor Daithi Doolan were also present on the night.
Minister Pat Carey congratulated the Ringsend & District Response to Drugs on the successful week and also congratulated the project for winning the Chambers Ireland President’s Award.
Special Guest Barry Murphy of Shamrock Rovers presented the prizes to the winners of the RDRD Soccer league competition. The winners received €250 along with a Cup and runners up received medals and family cinema tickets. All the players who participated received a medal.
Tom Crilly, Chairperson of RDRD, on behalf of the Board and staff of the Spellman Centre thanked everyone for participating and making the week so successful.
Whitefriar /Aungier Area Community Council
The Whitefriar / Aungier Area Community Council has commenced an Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) inspired Audit of the area. The aim of the audit is to identify 1000 skills and talents in the area, 1000 ideas on how to improve the area and 1000 things that members of the local community really care about. On the basis of the feedback from this Audit, the Community Council will develop a three year plan of action for the area. The ABCD approach to Community Development challenges the traditional ‘needsbased’ mentality with which many groups have been forced, through funding requirements, to perceive and measure themselves. It sets out to celebrate and build upon the capacities that already exist within the community itself and encourages us to find the support we need from within our own ranks rather than depending upon buying in external, ‘professional’, supports.
Regeneration of Tom Kelly Road and Charlemont Street is planned
Tom Kelly Road and Charlemont Street are at the beginning of an exciting new era. A regeneration plan will totally restructure the whole area.
Regeneration has been discussed many times through the years and even progressed to the point of plans being drawn up and displayed to residents but just as quickly those plans were shelved.
With the help of a dedicated Development team, a charter has been drawn up and approved by residents to identify their needs and interests. The new Management team intends to improve services in the community such as services to the unemployed, services to Senior Citizens and services to the youth population; in fact, a social regeneration is planned. We intend doing this through liaising and collaborating with community organisations and educational facilities.
So not only will Tom Kelly Road and Charlemont Street receive a much needed facelift but the revival of a community spirit will be what sustains the physical regeneration.
South East Inner City Local Education Committee Initiatives
South-East Inner City Local Education Committee has piloted two innovative interagency initiatives in the recent past. The first one was a Life Skills Orienteering programme for students in fifth and sixth class/first year students in twelve local schools. The project involved:
- students learning about map reading and compass orientation in class;
- making an orienteering trip to Trooperstown Wood which encompassed geography;
- questions and life skills messages at every stop on the route.
The project was supported by Home School Liaison Coordinators from the schools, the Community Liaison guards and the staff of the organisation “Life Skills” who have expertise in orienteering. 300 children participated in the programme. For many, it was their first outing to the countryside. The feedback was hugely positive and the organisers felt that the interagency approach to the initiative was hugely successful.
In September the Committee organised an adult education roadshow which visited four local primary schools at 8.30am when parents were leaving their children to school. Information was provided on adult education services offered by the Vocational Education Committee, from Post-Leaving Cert courses to literacy courses, as well as courses available in the school. Many parents signed up for classes as a result. This initiative, which was organised by the Community Education Facilitator and Adult Literacy Organiser of the VEC and the Home-School Liaison Coordinators, will be rolled out again in the New Year
ICON’s Strategic Planning Process
Sian Muldowney reports on the strategic planning process with which ICON has engaged in the North East Inner City
In March 2006 ICON held a conference in Kilkenny. The conference in Kilkenny aimed to consider the future of the network looking to the challenges and changes that the area is to face. The workshop themes, as chosen by ICON members, focused on education, drugs, childcare, intercultural issues and empowering youth. The conference was the means by which the management and staff of ICON could consult its members on issues that needed to be addressed in the Strategic Plan for 2007-2010.
There were many recommendations that arose from the conference but unfortunately ICON does not have the capacity to address them all. The working groups were convened to try and break down the recommendations into practical actions that ICON could tackle. The end result was a series of actions to be undertaken over the course of the next three years.
The Education and Intercultural Working groups have been working to try and address some of the issues in the plan. In line with the recommendations, position papers on both issues were developed for the general election and distributed to households and to candidates. The issues covered reflect the views of ICON on education and intercultural issues and called for a wide range of changes to improve on the current situation.
The Intercultural Group is currently working to develop an Orientation Pack for Dublin 1 and 3 outlining relevant information for the north east inner city. The Education Working Group felt that a wider discussion on some of the issues was needed and it would be appropriate to host a seminar in the area. Some of the other issues being progressed are:
- The ICON Health Action Forum was established and is working towards undertaking a consultation in relation to the Primary Health Care Unit in Summerhill. The group hopes to follow this work with a detailed health needs assessment for the ICON area.
- A grandparents sub-group has been established to address the needs of grandparents acting as carers to their grandchildren as a result of drug related issues.
- The Community Participation project has taken on the task of developing a Step by Step Guide to rehabilitation and treatment for drug users and their families. It will show the steps that need to be taken and the different services available to them.
ICON representatives on different structures continue to raise the issues and support the work of the different sub-groups in the Drugs Task Force. By working in partnership with the different agencies and organisations we can keep the issues on the table.
It is important to remember that ICON is the sum of its members and in order to progress as many actions as possible within the plan it is vital that people get involved. It ensures that the voice of the community continues to be heard.
Statutory Sector Representatives meet to consider DICP Policy Paper
Following the successful meeting of the community sector in Croke Park last April, the Dublin Inner City Partnership convened a meeting in September of key representatives of the statutory sector in Dublin’s inner city.
Those attending the meeting included senior representatives from the following statutory agencies: Health Services Executive, Dublin City Council, FÁS, An Garda Siochana, Probation and Welfare, Homeless Agency, Curriculum Development Unit Youthreach, inner city schools, Department of Education and Science, CDVEC, the Digital Hub and NYP2.
The purpose of the meeting was to present the findings of “Divided City: The changing face of Dublin’s Inner City”, a study commissioned by DICP and researched by Trutz Haase. The second purpose of the meeting was to present the new policy paper by DICP. At the meeting two presentations were made by Trutz Haase and David Connolly, Director of DICP. (These two presentations had also been made at the Croke Park seminar in April. See the Summer 2007 edition of Partnership Agenda for a full report on the seminar).
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre reaches out to New Communities
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) is situated on 70 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2. The DRCC was founded 27 years ago in response to the lack of services available in providing adequate care for those who had been raped or sexually abused in Ireland.
The DRCC also has outreach services in Coolock, Tallaght and in Dochas (the women’s prison). The demonstrations on government buildings in 2006 such as the ‘White Flower March’, were protesting about similar issues that were raised 26 years ago regarding the rights and protection of victims of sexual violence within the justice system. These passionate protests and street demonstrations have sent out a clear signal that people living in Ireland will continue to demand solutions to these issues from our law makers. It is something on which the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre will continue to work towards getting justice, for the benefit of all, and lobbying for appropriate care services for those who have suffered from sexual violence.
Twenty seven years on, over 15,000 people per year call the 24 hour confidential freephone helpline. Our telephone counsellors are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to help, support and listen to people affected by sexual violence. We offer one-to-one counselling and provide a non-judgemental professional service to help female and male victims of rape cope and recover from the trauma of rape, sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse. We provide an interpreter if necessary.
The DRCC also has experience of working abroad. Two of our therapists travelled to Bosnia, Croatia and Kosova to help those affected by the widespread rape of women and children which was used as a weapon of war. They facilitated the establishment of trauma centres in these war- torn countries to train local women to deal with the devastating aftermath effects of the trauma that their countries were facing because of the war. This important work was supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The DRCC has developed an Awareness Programme which is reaching out and responding to new communities, trying to create an awareness of the Centre’s existence and most of all that it is here to offer support and help for anyone affected by sexual violence. We also give presentations and workshops, with interpreters present if necessary, to groups and organisations. It is vital that immigrants travelling to this country are aware of our existence and their right to appropriate care services, if they are a victim of rape, childhood sexual abuse, sexual harassment or sexual violence of any kind. Often immigrants who come to Ireland do not have the language and may be isolated and alone. The DRCC is now developing an integration strategy that seeks to help those who need to access our services. The DRCC has so far translated leaflets into 5 widely spoken languages so members of new communities can have greater access in seeking support and appropriate information.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is always campaigning for changes in the law. For example, we were very influential in the 1990s in having the law changed to include rape within marriage. We continue to lobby for separate legal representation for victims of rape and sexual violence who appear as witnesses in court.
The story of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is one of struggle and great courage. Twenty seven years on, the DRCC’s staff and volunteers have helped thousands of women and men to overcome the trauma they have suffered as a result of being raped and sexually abused. They have changed laws and they have changed minds and it is a proud history.
If you or someone you know has been raped or sexually abused, you don’t have to manage alone and you can come through this. Our 24 hour Confidential Freephone Helpline is 1 800 77 88 88.
If you would like to be part of our volunteer team please contact us at the above number. Finally if any group or organisation would like to contact the DRCC to collaborate on delivering presentations and workshops on issues surrounding rape and sexual violence please contact the above freephone number and ask for Irene Quinn, New Communities Outreach Co-ordinator or email rccoutreach@gmail.com
Gateway celebrates Achievements
The Gateway Celebration of Achievements Ceremony was held on October 25 at The Law Society of Ireland in Blackhall Place. Participants from the Gateway Project were presented with Achievement Certificates by An Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern. Fidelma Bonass, Chairperson of the Gateway Project was the MC at the Celebration.
Speakers were An Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern TD, Roddy Molloy from FÁS and Anne Devlin from FETAC. Two former participants also spoke about their experiences at Gateway.
Gateway is a Women’s Education/Skills Training Programme in the North West Inner City which supports women in their effort towards securing quality employment through Training and Education. Gateway is funded by FÁS, DICP, Drugs Task Force, VEC and the Back to Education Section of the Department of Education.
Twenty seven local women who work in crèches and completed childcare modules were there on the day to receive their certificates. Twenty four Gateway participants received Certificate Awards for Microsoft IC3, (Computing Fundamentals, Key Applications,Living Online), Business Calculations, Business Administration, Computer Literacy, Office Procedures, Reception Skills and childcare modules.
Community ICT Project
The Community ICT Project is an Information & Communication Technology Resource which aims to enhance Community Development Work in the North West Inner City Area working in an innovative and creative way.
As a Community Development Organisation you may wish to use the Project Facility for your own needs – to deliver your own training, to give a presentation to your service users or funders (an overhead projector is available), or to work on your own digital media projects – perhaps editing your own movie productions or building a website. If the Community ICT Project can help you in any way please feel free to contact us.
The Community ICT Project
3rd Floor Macro Community Resource Centre
1 Green Street,
Dublin 7.
Tel: 01 8737035 / 0868208658
Project Co-Ordinator: Andrew Madden.
Email: andrewmadden@communityict.ie
Website: www.communityict.ie
New Cultural Mediation Project gets underway
Amel Yacef, the Coordinator of the new Cultural Mediation Project reports on the work undertaken to date in the new project
The Schools Cultural Mediation Project is a North West Inner City Network project that provides a translation/interpretation and cultural mediation service to the ten schools of the Dublin 7 School Completion Cluster.
The project aims at ensuring that parents of minority language students can participate in the life of the schools and get the appropriate support to achieve this; the aim of this is to ensure the welfare of the children.
The project is funded under the POBAL Integration Fund through Dublin Inner City Partnership; it has an Advisory Group with wide representation from statutory and voluntary organisations, for example, Department of Education and Science, the School Completion Programme, Home School Liaison, Principals, Access Ireland, CDVEC, Community Links, NUI Maynooth and the Curriculum Development Unit.
In June 07 two staff were hired to carry out the work outlined by the Advisory Group. They are Amel Yacef, the coordinator and Diana Nacu, the project administrator.
The main activities of the project are to provide an efficient translation and interpretation service to the ten schools in the Dublin 7 School Completion Project cluster. To do so, a translation subcommittee and an interpretation sub-committee have been created. Professionals in both fields have been sitting on these sub-committees bringing in valuable experience. The goal of the sub-committees is to establish a pool of translators and interpreters who will provide a quality service on an ongoing basis to the schools and the parents; to do so, the sub-committees will ensure that guidelines, policies and procedures around working with translators and interpreters are put in place and implemented.
In addition, the project is compiling a training course on community interpretation to interpreters, local migrants and third level language graduates. The community interpreters will be supported by the project to provide interpretation services for the schools.
The School Cultural Mediation Project is also trying to establish a cultural mediation service in the schools. The concept of cultural mediation is better known in other European countries as intercultural and social mediation and this answers a need that goes beyond the language barrier.
The project is currently researching the different models of cultural mediation in education which have been developed in Europe and elsewhere. Based on the research, we will develop a model of cultural mediation and train cultural mediators for the schools. The mediators will then be available to the schools to mediate between schools and parents and to facilitate the development of proactive and positive relationships between schools and immigrant parents which would ensure an effective integration of the children.
By providing on-going support to the schools and the parents through translation/interpretation and mediation, the project strives to create flexible interaction between the schools and immigrant parents, promoting respect and mutual understanding. The project encourages parent participation in school life which would ensure higher levels of integration between home and school.
In an effort to create a more inclusive school environment, the SCMP will support on an ongoing basis the different services that promote the involvement of immigrant parents in the schools. The SCMP is closely involved with the School Completion Programme and will ensure that migrant parents are facilitated to contribute to this programme, to avail of all services that promote school retention, and to become aware of relevant issues (e.g subject choice in relation to access to third level education). Schools will also be facilitated to encourage the involvement of immigrant parents in intercultural and other relevant activities. The project will explore with schools creative ways in which immigrant parents can become active participants in the life of the school.
Partnership Agenda is produced by the Dublin Inner City Partnership.
Dublin Inner City Partnership,
Equity House,
16 Upper Ormond Quay,
Dublin 7.
Tel: (01) 872 1 321
Email: office@dicp.ie
Fax: (01) 872 1 330
Web: www.dicp.ie
ISSN: 1393-9068
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