Summary – Supporting Child Contact: the Need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland

Full Report – Supporting Child Contact: the Need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland

In general One Family supports the submissions to the joint committee made by the Ombudsman for Children and by the Children’s Rights Alliance. One Family is therefore limiting its response to Clause 1 (Article 42(A).1), Clause 2 (Article 42(A) 2.1) and Clause 4 (Article 42(A).4.

Submission-PDF file -May-2008

One Family’s Pre-Budget Submission to the Department of Social Protection

One Family pre-budget 2012 submission

Submission to:  Department of Social and Family Affairs

Pre-Budget Submisson 2011

Introduction

One Family is again framing its submission in a way that takes account of the serious economic downturn currently being experienced in the economy and in recognition that, while short term financial problems must be a key concern, The Department of Social Protection, supported by other Departments, should:

1. Base all decisions on the premise of not increasing poverty among one-parent families
2. Develop and implement a coherent strategy to reduce child poverty which is strongly and increasingly concentrated in one-parent families
3. Ensure that proven supports to assist lone parents to secure and/or progress into employment, education and skill development pioneered to date by FAS and the Department of Social Protection in partnership with One Family are maintained and built  on
4. Ensure that existing supports to assist families going through crisis pregnancy, marriage and relationship breakdown and new family formations are not dismantled
5. Build on positive supports for families and children already in place, e.g the universal free preschool year.

One Family 2011 pre-budget submission sent 21 09 10

Pre-Budget Submission 2010

Introduction

The 2010 pre-budget report has framed its submission around the economic downturn. One-parent families are facing increased financial and other pressures due to the cutbacks already imposed by Government in the earlier budget in 2009 and in the 2008 budget. These cutbacks already seriously affecting one-parent families include:

• Reductions in Rent Supplement and increases in rent contribution required by the tenant
• Removal and reductions in payments for children – removal of the Early Child Care Supplement and Child Benefits cuts for 18 year olds
• Removal of the Christmas bonus for those on welfare
• Exclusion of those on the One-Parent Family Payment from many of the new training and education initiatives introduced by FAS
• Cutbacks in education grants – often in the middle of courses
• Cutbacks in support for schools and for school children in low income families.

One Family 2010 pre-budget submission 15 10 09 tk

Pre-Budget Report 2009

Introduction

This report has framed its submission in a way that takes account of the serious economic downturn currently being experienced in the economy and of the expectation, as forecast by the ERSI in its latest Medium Term Review, that the economy will soor return to a long-term growth path.

One Family 2009 pre-budget submission 11 September 2008

Pre-Budget Submission 2008

Introduction

This report has framed its submission around the 3 main areas indentified in the National Economic and Social Council report on the Development Welfare state (NESC Report No.  113.  May 2005)

These areas are

• Income Adequacy
• Services
• Innovation

One Family pre-budget submission October 2007

Pre-Budget Submission 2007

Introduction

One Family welcomes this opportunity to submit our pre-Budget submission to the Department of Social and Family Affairs. This year we are framing our submission around the ten areas that we believe are vital to addressing the inequalities experienced by one-parent families in Ireland today.
Pre-budget-submission 2007-PDF

Overall, One Family believes that there is an urgent need to develop and implement a coherent policy framework for one-parent families that reflects the realities of their lives and those of their children.

The key objectives of this framework in our view would be:

• reduced child and family poverty;
• reduced dependence on social welfare;
• increased access to early childhood development and education;
• improved access to services: education and training, childcare, including after school care, health and accommodation;
• innovative and positive engagement with one-parent families in relation to increasing their role in the labour market;
• recognition of the important role that parenting plays in Irish society and development of realistic work life balance options for those parenting alone; and
• coordination of services and supports, including information.

submission-on-lone-parent-review-PDF

One Family works with all types of one-parent families as well as with new  and blended families. Much of our work revolves around issues related to the formation and ending of family relationships. In all cases our primary concern is the impact of such situations on the child, on ensuring the availability of adequate supports for children and on supporting legal frameworks that overtly address the best interests of the child.

We therefore focus our recommendations to the Working Group with this priority in mind.
Submission-on-Domestic-Partnership-May-2006-PDF

Given the importance of the current social partnership discussions in terms of framing economic and social policy in Ireland over the next possibly ten year period, One Family is keen to ensure that the issues affecting our clients, one-parent families, are adequately addressed in the discussions and that the  current proposals for changing state supports for lone parents are clearly linked in with other major strategic developments and related funding sources.
Submission-to-Social-Partnership-PDF

One Family welcomes the opportunity to make this submission to the Office for Social Inclusion on the preparation of Ireland’s National Anti-Poverty Strategy 2006–2008. The submission is made in the  context that solo parents are increasingly disadvantaged as a group in Ireland in terms of poverty levels,
social welfare dependency and access to services that help address these issues.

Submission-to-NAPS-October-2005 PDF

One Family welcomes the opportunity to make this submission in advance of Budget 2006. One Family has designed its pre-budget submission in the knowledge that the Government is considering significant developments in  the area of support for solo parents and for childcare in Ireland. The submission is also made in the context that solo parents are increasingly  Achieving Equality and Social Inclusion for All in Ireland disadvantaged as a group in Ireland in terms of poverty levels, social welfare dependency and access to services that help address these issues.

Pre-budget-submission-2006-PDF

The changing nature of family life in Ireland

Modern family life in Ireland is remarkably different now compared with the period in which our Constitution was first developed.  With declining marriage and birth rates, higher rates of extra marital cohabitation and birth and a growing diversification of the structure of families, the typical Irish family is no longer typical.

APOCC-submission-two parts-PDF

Paper One: On Constitution which affords equal rights to all families
Paper Two:  Recognising the realities of family diversity

One Family broadly welcomes the treatment of the issue of non-marital relationships by the Law Reform
Commission on this occasion.  Particularly given that 2004 marks the 10th anniversary of the UN International Year of the Family, it is imperative that current and persistent barriers to the full equality and equal status of all families and family types, in legal, policy and service provision arenas be addressed.

law-reform-commission-PDF