A project aimed at helping parents in Dublin with regular visits, help and advice, has led to children having better health and education and is set to be extended to other parts of the country.
Preparing for Life (PFL) has been working with parents in Darndale in the north east of the city for almost 20 years and its one of the largest studies of its kind in Europe
The programme recruited pregnant women and split them into two groups - high treatment and low treatment.
The high treatment group received a visitor to the family home once every two weeks, lasting from pregnancy until the child entered junior infants and was one of the longest-running randomised control studies in Europe.
Now, ten years after the home-visits ended in Darndale, the children that received those visits were 29% more likely to want to pursue third-level education compared to peers who did not receive the home-visiting programme.
Professor Orla Doyle, principal investigator on the PFL study, said that even now, when the children involved in the study are between the ages of 12 and 16, it is clear that the teens from the high-treatment group have better language ability, problem solving skills and working memory.
"The fact that cognitive gains seen at school entry have persisted into adolescence, nearly ten years after programme participation ended, suggests it may have caused a fundamental shift in children's developmental trajectories," Prof Doyle said.
Jeni Moore has lived and worked in Darndale for most of her life. In 2007, she was working in a childcare centre and pregnant with her third child, Jack, when she was approached about taking part in the parenting programme.
"I didn't think that I'd get much from it, but it was absolutely amazing," she said.
"I built a great relationship with my mentor.
"She did home visits every couple of weeks and she built a great relationship with my family."
The home visitor brought Jeni tip sheets and advice on things such as nutrition and exercise.
"If I was worried about anything I could ring them at any time and they'd answer my call," Jeni said.
"If I was looking for something, they'd bring that information with them when they were next coming to visit."
Jack is now in fifth year of secondary school.
"Jack became a very confident child, he'd take part in anything," Jeni said.
"He was different to my other two children. He was more outgoing, more social."
Not only did the programme change Jack's life, but Jeni's also.
Jeni was encouraged to go back to education and get a university degree and is currently doing a master's programme in early education.
"I was working in the early education centre in Darndale at the beginning of the journey of PFL," Jeni said.
"Now I'm managing an early education centre in Edenmore."
She added: "I wouldn't have done it without PFL, and their encouragement and support."
PFL is produced by the Dublin Northside Partnership for the families in Darndale in northeast Dublin.
With the backing of Tusla, PFL is now available in ten other communities around Ireland: Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, Bray, Co Wicklow, Castlebar, Co Mayo, Kilrush, Co Clare, Newbridge, Co Kildare and Tallaght, Balbriggan and Finglas in Dublin.
