Improving outcomes for children in the island of Ireland: the role of philanthropic investment
| Published date | 01 August 2007 |
| Pages | 60-67 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17466660200700017 |
| Date | 01 August 2007 |
| Author | Michael Little,Ali Abunimah |
60
1Dartington Social
Research Unit, UK
and Chapin Hall
Center for Children,
University of
Chicago, US
2Chapin Hall Center
for Children,
University of
Chicago, US and
Dartington Social
Research Unit, UK
Journal of Children’s Services
Volume 2 Issue 2 August 2007
© Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
Preamble
Ireland has suddenly become a hub of activity around children’s services – at central and local
government levels, involving the primary statutory and voluntary agencies, and engaging some of the
more disadvantaged communities. In the previous article, Sylda Langford outlined relevant aspects of the
broader context in Ireland before describing the origins and work of the Office of the Minister for Children
(OMC), of which she is Director-General.
This article considers the role of philanthropic investment in the reforms. It outlines a 10-year
programme of work funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies to encourage strategy development and
service design to improve outcomes for children on the island of Ireland. It assesses progress thus far
and reflects on lessons learnt that might be useful for those mounting similar programmes in the future.
We do not normally write for the journal that we edit but given our close involvement in the
aforementioned work it was deemed necessary in this instance. Future articles in the series will examine
the reform process at a local level (from the perspective of a leader in one of the community
engagement sites) and put the reforms into the context of the evolution of children’s services in Ireland
over the last 20 years (by a leading figure in the voluntary sector).
Introduction
Philanthropic investment can make a difference to the
fabric of life. But it can also claim more than can be
achieved. Observers may get excited when they
discover that foundations investing in children’s
services have billions of dollars, but any endowment
has to be broken down into smaller chunks.
The critical aspect of using philanthropic funds
strategically is creating leverage on existing
expenditure. Even where philanthropy is investing
several hundreds of millions of dollars on a single
strategy, the investment remains small beer
compared to state expenditure. For philanthropy to
make an impact on disadvantaged youngsters it is
necessary to alter how other bodies spend money.
This is the hypothesis that underpins the
investments of The Atlantic Philanthropies in the
area of disadvantaged children and youth on the
island of Ireland. The Atlantic Philanthropies is what
is known as ‘limited life’ philanthropy. Since 2002 it
has been spending down its endowment with the
goal of closing the organisation in the middle part of
the next decade. The Foundation makes investments
in the areas of ageing, population health,
reconciliation and human rights as well as
disadvantaged children and youth.
The Dartington Social Research Unit worked with
The Atlantic Philanthropies to develop the logic
model for the strategy in Ireland, and applied its
methods of strategy development and service design.
Improving outcomes for children
in the island of Ireland: the role
of philanthropic investment
Michael Little1and Ali Abunimah2
This is the second in a series of articles based on interviews with policy-makers, philanthropists and
community activists about the reforms to children’s services in Ireland. Subsequent series will examine reform
efforts in other countries.
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