Family Start is one of the initiatives supported by the Government’s Strengthening Families strategy, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services (CYF). It is an early intervention service with the goal of achieving better outcomes for New Zealand’s most at-risk families. The programme supports families from the birth of a child for up to five years.

The overall aims of Family Start are:
• to improve health, education and social outcomes for children
• to improve parents’ parenting capability and practice
• to improve parents’ personal and family circumstances.

The programme plans to achieve its aims through the delivery of an integrated package of services to families based on interagency collaboration and co-ordination across government and community sectors.

The evaluation

The main objectives set by the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and CYF for the outcome evaluation are:
1. to determine the short-term outcomes for children and their families who participate in the Family Start programme
2. to identify how Family Start influences, and is influenced by, other service delivery agencies in the local community and the possible effects of this on outcomes for children and their families
3. to identify ways in which the Family Start programme can be altered or improved to better meet the needs of children and their families.