Quantitative Analysis of the Greater Saint John Early Childhood Hubs
Category(s):
Social Policy,
Education and Training
Status: Active
Principal: Ted McDonald
Project Number: P098
Year Approved: 2024
The establishment of the early childhood hubs in Saint John is rooted in the work of the Saint John Early Childhood Development Coalition and its founding partners – the Business-Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI), the YMCA of Greater Saint John, the Family Resource Centre, the Anglophone South School District (ASD-S), Horizon Health Network, and the Department of Social Development – which came together in 2003 to develop a new model of early learning to better serve children living in poverty (
https://saintjohny.ymca.ca/community/early-childhood-hubs/).
Thanks to a recent funding contribution from the provincial government’s Social Innovation Fund, the YMCA of Greater Saint John has invited NB-IRDT to join the Early Childhood Hub project to provide an analysis and evaluation of Hub programs and services. The Greater Saint John Early Childhood Hubs have been established in two high priority Saint John elementary schools. The first was initiated a decade ago as part of a provincial demonstration program in 2003 to develop a new model of early learning to better serve children living in poverty. Its success laid the groundwork for opening a second early learning site in 2021. The HUBs each serve their respective neighborhoods - families with children aged 0 to 5 years - helping to strengthen the wellbeing of the child and parents family and to help prepare them for school. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the impact of the broader Hubs’ programs and services on quality, access, and outreach based on participant perception, and to provide direction on how program delivery might be improved going forward.
