ParentsNext was a pre-employment program that ended on 31 October 2024. It aimed to help parents to plan and prepare for employment by the time their youngest child reached school age. Parents received assistance from ParentsNext providers to help them identify their education and employment goals, improve their work readiness and link them to activities and services in the local community to help them achieve their goals.
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ParentsNext (2018 to 2021)
This evaluation used a mixed methods approach to assess program appropriateness, efficiency and effectiveness between July 2018 and June 2021. The key evaluation questions addressed include:
How well does ParentsNext engage and service/assist participants?
Are the program design and operational processes appropriate to enable the ParentsNext program to achieve its objectives?
Does participation in ParentsNext lead to increased participation in education and progress towards education and employment related goals?
ParentsNext Projects (2016 to 2018)
ParentsNext began initial operation through contracted project providers in 10 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across Australia in April 2016. The ParentsNext projects replaced the Disadvantaged Families Trials.
These contracts ended 30 June 2018 and were replaced by the program expanding nationally from 1 July 2018.
This evaluation presents analysis of the early impact of ParentsNext Projects in these initial 10 LGAs.