Journal article
Findings from the Kids in Communities Study (KiCS): A mixed methods study examining community-level influences on early childhood development
S Goldfeld, K Villanueva, R Tanton, I Katz, S Brinkman, B Giles-Corti, G Woolcock
Plos One | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2021
Abstract
There is increasing international interest in place-based approaches to improve early childhood development (ECD) outcomes. The available data and evidence are limited and precludes well informed policy and practice change. Developing the evidence-base for community-level effects on ECD is one way to facilitate more informed and targeted community action. This paper presents overall final findings from the Kids in Communities Study (KiCS), an Australian mixed methods investigation into community-level effects on ECD in five domains of influence–physical, social, governance, service, and sociodemographic. Twenty five local communities (suburbs) across Australia were selected based on ‘diagona..
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Grants
Awarded by University of Canberra
Funding Acknowledgements
The initial work for data collection and analysis was funded by Kids in Communities Study (KiCS), an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant (LP130100411) led by The University of Melbourne. From this work, the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) funded the development of community-level indicators for early childhood development (ECD) and draft manual of community indicator measures and methodologies (4-4FE66UX). DSS and Organisations as part of the ARC Linkage Grant are gratefully acknowledged for their generous in-kind and financial support. The KiCS collaboration includes the University of Melbourne (lead institution), University of Canberra, University of New South Wales, and The University of Western Australia, RMIT University and The University of Southern Queensland, and a range of government and non-government organisations such as The Australian Government Department of Education, the South Australian Department of Education, the Victorian Department of Education and Training, New South Wales Department of Education, Queensland Department of Education, the Australian Capital Territory Community Services Directorate, NSW Family and Community Services, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Wesley Mission Queensland, The Smith Family, The Benevolent Society, Uniting Care, Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Mount Saint Vincent University, University of British Columbia and the University of Ohio. SG (Lead Chief Investigator) and SB is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Career Development Fellowship (1082922 and 1160185 consecutively), and BGC by a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship (1107672).