She and Innes McColl lead the Simply Families programme which is one of six pilots introduced throughout New Zealand under the Government's Early Years Service Hubs policy.
The Hubs policy was developed by Dunedin South MP David Benson-Pope when he was employment and social development minister.
The McColls signed the contract with the Government last month and set about finding premises.
They decided on Forbury School because of its proximity to a main shopping area, services people would use, such as health clinics, and the ability of people to walk to it from most flat areas in South Dunedin, Mrs McColl said yesterday.
Forbury School had a strong relationship with its community and stood out as the ideal choice.
There had been an ‘‘explosion'' of ethnic diversity in the area, which was seen more in the under-10s than in the adult population.
More than one-third of children under 6 were of non-European descent.
‘‘We see the children at school but not in the community. They are not visible.''
The last census showed that 58% of the children in the area came from solo parent homes but only half of those homes were receiving the domestic purposes benefit.
It was positive those parents were in the workforce, but it posed other challenges such as child care and early childhood education opportunities, she said.
Some of other the statistics coming out of the area were alarming, she said.
Many of the children had chronic tooth decay that was affecting their behaviour.
Recent figures showed 50% of children in the area had an average 5.4 teeth with decay.
‘‘The kids with rotten teeth had received all sorts of intervention for behaviour but the solution could be as simple as stopping the decay by brushing teeth.''
Many families did not have tooth brushes, something Simply Families could help source through the various agencies already working in the area.
There were language difficulties to be address and about half the children were below their ideal reading ages, Mrs McColl said.
Some of those problems could be fixed through hearing and sight tests.
Hundreds of professionals were working in the community and the Government had invested a lot of money in various help programmes but children still kept turning up with serious problems, she said.
Simply Families would work with families so their children were getting access to all of their entitlements.
‘‘We know the professionals work in a particular way. It is unrealistic to expect them to change quickly. We need to consider how we can get coordination among the services.''
Professional agencies included ante-natal carers, wellchild services, such as Plunket, early childhood education, including play groups, and parental education.
Mr Benson-Pope said programmes like Simply Families took time to evolve in the community. Mrs McColl was dealing with the children of people she had been in contact with when they were children.
While there had been calls for intervention in children aged about 7, research showed that it was too late at that age. Up to 3 years was the best place to start with health tests and family support.
Failing to act at an early age would sentence the children to a life of alienation.
‘‘We shouldn't think we don't have alienation issues in this community. There are mean places in Dunedin South,'' he said.
Mrs McColl said there would be plenty of opportunities to link with other programmes running in the area. Many people were not aware of their entitlements.
