Calls to increase the number of parental competency checks by government workers A committee of MPs wants new mothers to be screened for potentially bad behaviour. EVERY expectant mother should undergo compulsory parenting competency checks in an effort to keep our young from becoming criminals, a committee of MPs recommends. A report by a parliamentary committee on anti-social and criminal behaviour, tabled in the South Australia Parliament, also says parents should receive annual home visits from authorities until their children start school. It says intervention would be more successful than punishment at curbing crime and has heard that many youth offenders come from "low-functioning" families. The committee said extending the current practice of a home visit in a child's first six weeks to before birth and every year until school would help improve the quality of parenting and home environments. This, the committee says, would help prevent a young person developing and acting on anti-social attitudes. Committee chairman and independent MP Bob Such said he recognised such a move could be seen as "nannyish." "But I think there are times when society should be interventionist and not pussyfoot around because the consequences are children being harmed or suffering for the rest of their lives," he said. Some factors that lead young people to anti-social behaviour and crime relate to inadequate parents and learning problems not being picked up at school. Some awareness and home education may help. Dr Such, a former youth affairs minister and parliamentary speaker, said State Parliament needed to try to reduce the frequency of criminal offending. He said while the behaviour had a negative impact on the offender, it also had a significant impact on victims and was an increasing cost burden on society. "The response is often to be tough on crime, more and longer prison terms and more and higher financial penalties incorporating a sense of revenge and the need for punishment," he said. We're going down the American path of locking more people up and building more prisons. There has been three teen murder convictions in the last year. We were told it costs $99,000 a year to keep someone in prison so some investment early would save money in the long run. Education Minister Jennifer Rankine did not respond directly to the committee's views but Opposition education spokesman David Pisoni said they were worth considering. The committee also includes former Opposition leader Isobel Redmond and Labor backbencher Alan Sibbons. Recommendations include: IMPROVED access to pre-natal advice and assistance for all expectant mothers that includes assessment of the mother's family situation and child-raising competence, whether it falls in the "at-risk" category and whether further assistance will be needed. HOME visits conducted on at least an annual basis until the child begins school, but should be as regular as deemed necessary in each individual case by qualified staff, such as nurses and child care professionals. VISITS at ages three and four should include a specific assessment of the child's oral language skill development. PUBLIC awareness strategies should be developed to ensure the community under-stands parents' resistance to intervention can have seriouslyvery detrimental effects on a child. TEACHERS should be educated to be more aware of the early warning signs that a young person might potentiallyengage in anti-social activities and use positive interventions. The Education Department provides a home visit by a child and family health nurse in the first six weeks of a child's life. There are other hospital and non-government organisations that run more intensive programs providing parenting advice, ensuring the child's welfare and assisting with household duties but all are limited in their reach and not mandatory. Education Minister Jennifer Rankine, in a written statement, said there were home-visiting programs available to parents through the state's 35 children's centres. "In addition the State Government very recently announced the development of a Multi Agency Protection Service which will bring elements of SA Police, Education, Health, Housing SA and Families SA staff together under the one roof where they will share vital information," she said. The MAPS unit will help to improve child protection responses and help stop vulnerable children and families from slipping through the net ... Opposition education spokesman David Pisoni said the number of at risk families had increased in the past decade as a result of the Government's wrong priorities. He said the recommendations were worthy of consideration and "more does need to be done through education to help break families out of poverty." The challenge is to break the cycle of poverty and disengagement from the community that these families experience. Dr Such said he hoped that the government would seek to implement the recommendations, no matter which party won the March election. The committee also heard that poor speech development in childhood often indicated deeper problems that lead to problem behaviour. "The committee believes that vigilance in this area is crucial to keeping a child on track to achieving their full potential in life," the report stated. As a venue at which such problems, and others such as poor socialising skills, should be evident to the trained eye, school plays a vital role.