Will the First Minister state what steps the Welsh Government is taking to reduce adverse childhood experiences by 70 per cent by 2030, and outline the prevention measures the Welsh Government will be introducing in 2019/20?
The Welsh Government is committed to giving all children the best possible start in life. This means taking action to tackle all of the barriers which can prevent this from happening, including preventing and mitigating Adverse Childhood Experience, or ACEs.
The research by Public Health Wales on ACEs helped to highlight the extent of ACEs in Wales and their impact. It has highlighted the benefits associated with preventing ACEs and the economic and social costs of failing to do so.
In Prosperity for All, we made a commitment to support the development of ACE aware public services. Key to this has been the establishment of an ACE Support Hub for Wales. The Hub provides expert advice, support and training to help services to understand and tackle ACEs. The Welsh Government has made available £400,000 per annum for a three-year period between 2017-18 and 2019-20.
Our work to tackle ACEs is not limited to support for the Hub. We are supporting a range of other initiatives and innovative approaches. Our Flying Start and Families First programmes support families who may experience ACEs, by offering appropriate and timely interventions.
We are also sharing knowledge and experience and examples of best practice with the other home nation governments and the Republic of Ireland through a five nations’ network.
While we are aware of the Wave Trust’s campaign to reduce ACEs by 70%, the Welsh Government does not have a target for tackling ACEs. Our goal remains to protect all children by preventing neglect and abuse. We will continue to work with organisations like the Wave Trust towards this common goal.