The Lifestart core service is a home visitation, educational programme on child development, delivered to parents in their own homes. It consists of age-appropriate information supported by art, story, music and movement resources that are tailored to suit each individual child and family.

The Lifestart programme is delivered by trained Family Visitors, who on a monthly visit, bring age-appropriate learning materials to the participating family and spend as much time as is necessary discussing the material and the child’s development with the parent(s). The materials are left with the family as a resource. Family Visitors explain to parents all the things they can do to encourage their child’s development and suggests activities that will help children to develop to their full potential. Every six months there are developmental checklists that allow parents to see how their child is developing compared to the “average / typical”child. The programme is not targetet to any particular subgroup of parents. It is offered free of charge and it is voluntary.

The Aim of the Programme is:

to enable parents to make informed, relevant decisions about the upbringing of their own children, and to empower them to give effect to these decisions (Lifestart, 1993)

Training in the content and presentation of the Lifestart materials, and in the theory of the “Family as a System”, enables Family Visitors to empathise with and understand the parent’s circumstances, so providing support to the family. The materials with which they work are an American text, “Growing Child” (www.growingchild.com) which has been licensed to the Lifestart Foundation and carefully adapted for use in Lifestart projects. The purpose of adapting the material is to make it culturally appropriate to the localities in which it is delivered. Programme material has also been adapted to meet the needs of different cultural groups, e.g. travellers and Irish language speakers, and has been reviewed to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities or literacy difficulties.

The Lifestart Programme is open to any family in a project area with a child aged from birth to five years, regardless of parental income, culture, level of ability, religious denomination or sexual orientation.