Meitheal

Meitheal is a Tusla-led Early Intervention Practice Model designed to ensure that the strengths and needs of children and their families are effectively identified, understood and responded to in a timely way so that children and families get the help and support needed to improve children’s outcomes and realise their rights. It is an early intervention, multi-agency (when necessary) response, tailored to the needs of the individual child or young person. Meitheal is voluntary and can only be undertaken when the parent/carer agrees to engage with the process. 

Meitheal is used in partnership with parents to help them share their own knowledge, expertise, and concerns about their child and to hear the views of practitioners working with them. The ultimate goal is to enable parents and practitioners to work together to achieve a better life for the child. 

The Meitheal Process, refers to the formal, centrally coordinated process for ensuring that strengths, needs, and desired outcomes are identified and, where necessary, support is planned, delivered, and reviewed in order to meet the identified need, capitalise on the identified strengths, and achieve the desired outcomes.

Examples of challenges Meitheal could help with are:

• A child having problems at school
• A child feeling down
• Not getting on with your child
• Family problems
• Illness or bereavement
• Difficult behaviour
• Relationship with your child

How it works:

• Your family will have a supportive person called a Lead Practitioner who may be chosen by you.
• Your Lead Practitioner will help you and your child to identify your child’s strengths and needs.
• The next step is your Lead Practitioner will arrange a Meitheal support meeting where you and your child will help put a plan in place.
• Everyone will support you to follow your plan to make the changes you and your child want in their life.
• You, your child and your family will decide how long you want this support for.

Contact details for the CFSN team can be found here.