SPECS Bray

SPECS is a free service in Bray that provides supports for families from pregnancy right through to school age:

• Preparing For Life: family mentors work alongside parents from pregnancy till your child starts school - we visit families in their homes and give information on child development and parenting.
• Parents Plus (1-6-year-olds): parenting classes with practical steps to help parents work through stresses or difficulties they are having with their child.
• Strengthening Families: helps parents and their children to communicate and get on better and enhances children's life skills, including communicating, resisting peer pressure, recognising their feelings and solving problems.
• Roots of Empathy: an in-school programme that helps children develop positive behaviour and social skills and reduces incidences of bullying.
• Support for Quality Early Childhood Education: provide assistance to Early Years services to ensure the highest standards and practices are in place when working with young children.

SPECS was set up by a consortium of community groups and agencies in Bray, led by Bray & North Wicklow Area Partnership. The project is funded under the Government's Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme, with co-funding from the Dept. of Children and Youth Affairs and Atlantic Philanthropies. The ABC Programme invests in evidence-based early interventions that have been shown to improve the long-term outcomes for children and families living in less advantaged communities.