Thriving and on Track (TOTs)

Supporting Logan’s youngest children through culturally safe, community-led pathways for early identification and intervention.

What is Thriving and on Track (TOTs)?

Thriving and on Track (TOTs) is a Logan-developed program that supports vulnerable children and families to connect with child health and specialist services.

Educators in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), hubs and schools identify potential. developmental concerns.
Families are referred to child health nurses for assessment.
Identified children access early and short-term allied health interventions.
Children and families are linked with services and supports available in their community.

An independent evaluation found that only 10% of Logan children with developmental delays had contact with the child health system in the previous 12-month period. Without support, children enter school with developmental challenges, affecting long-term education and wellbeing outcomes.¹

Thriving and on Track (TOTs) creates pathways for collaboration across health, education, and community sectors, and offers opportunities to strengthen early childhood support in Logan by:

Supporting collaboration across health, education, and community sectors.
Extending support from Community MACH hubs to school transition (birth to five years); a soft trial is currently underway in three schools.
Broadening place-based, culturally safe foundational support and early intervention in community hubs.
Strengthening pathways and integration of TOTs into broader health care services.
Deepening understanding of the impact of educator capacity-building and the effect of TOTs engagement on families’ care journeys.

[1] Brisbane South PHN, 2023.

Why TOTs Matters

Early childhood is critical

The first 2000 days of a child’s life before school set the foundation for their health, learning, and wellbeing. In some parts of Logan, more than one in three children are at risk of developmental delay, compared with one in five nationally. Despite significant investment, entrenched inequities remain.

Addressing inequity in child development

TOTs delivers a place-based response by:

Embedding support in trusted spaces like ECECs and community hubs.
Training educators to identify concerns and start supportive conversations with families.
Locating health professionals in familiar, culturally safe environments.
Reducing the burden on families to navigate complex systems alone.

Why Early Investment Matters

There is a minimum 7:1 return on investment when developmental challenges are addressed early.

The impact of TOTs in Logan (2020–2023)

Thriving and On Track (TOTs) is helping more Logan children get the support they need, earlier. By strengthening child development, building workforce capability and improving access to allied health, the initiative is creating better outcomes for children and families across Logan.

Logan Together’s vision for TOTs in Logan

All children in Logan receive early and effective support through sustainable resourcing of the TOTs models in both ECECs and in Community Hubs.

Challenges for TOTs in Logan

Despite the strong potential of TOTs, significant challenges remain in implementation and sustainability:

Reduction in FY25 program coordination and connector funding despite advocacy.
No ongoing funding stream.
Resourcing constraints affect equity of engagement and consistency of follow-up with ECECs.
Current capacity is insufficient to meet demand for allied health and connector services in community hubs.