The Child and Family Agency has announced a major programme of early intervention measures for children after it received over 8m in one-off Atlantic Philanthropies funding.

Children’s Minister James Reilly said the money would mean “a stronger focus on prevention and early intervention rather than crisis management”.

The prevention, partnership, and family support programme will begin this year and will run into 2018 courtesy of a non-discretionary grant of 8.3m from Atlantic Philanthropies and supported by the Unesco Child and Family Research Centre at NUI Galway.

A central plank of the programme will be the national rollout of Meitheal a model for family support led by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, which allows children, young people, and their families to get supports locally when needed through a range of statutory and non-statutory agencies.

A grant will be given to EPIC (Empowering Young People in Care) to create a structured process around consultation with young people, while a participation strategy and a children and young people’s version of the strategy have been drafted and will be published later this month.