Potential funding cuts to Sure Start services in Northern Ireland would be "stripping away the possibility of our kids thriving", a West Belfast mum has said.
Katie Petticrew spoke to Belfast Live about the need to protect funding for what she called a vital service for parents and children.
The 23-year-old has penned a letter to all the major Stormont parties to urge them to act to protect funding for the 38 Sure Start projects in Northern Ireland.
Read more: Northern Irish mums open up on their battle to meet childcare costs while working
"Sure Start offers so many services across Northern Ireland, particularly in areas where there's high levels of poverty," she said.
"Because there's no functioning Executive, the Secretary of State has announced a budget which is absolutely diabolical.
"It's looking like it could be more than a 50% reduction of services across the board, they can't even allocate places in their pre-school programme that they run and the pre-school programme is so important for kids like my son who has additional needs."
Katie said that their local Sure Start had already done so much to support her family and that she would have been lost without them.
Her son got his official diagnosis of autism last moth aged two and a half after she fought to get him a diagnosis appointment, knowing that early intervention would be crucial for him.
"Before we were able to get his diagnosis, we knew he needed speech and language therapy support in place, occupational therapy support in place and the only place we could get that was in Sure Start," she added.
"Sure Start was a vital part of my son getting his diagnosis and being able to fulfil his full potential and have a positive future.
"He's non-verbal at the minute, before Sure Start he wasn't saying any words at all, but Sure Start had an SLT (Speech and Language Therapist) doing classes once a week which he was invited along to and then they got an SLT sent out to the house.
"Now he's saying words with meaning, he's not using them to communicate, but he knows the meaning behind them and making key connections like that and as a parent, it's unbelievable to see.
"Where we couldn't get any support and were getting turned away by GPs and local Trusts and things like that, Sure Start did everything they could to support us."
She added that it had also helped with her other son and with her and her partner's own situation to have that lifeline to rely on.
"My other son wasn't going through any of that, but having a child with additional needs you have to give so much attention to them," she said.
"And at times I was feeling guilty because I felt like I wasn't giving my other son 100%.
"They opened the door for us to be able to go in and have safe play classes, where they could build on their relationship together and without the girls, the staff and the services there, we really wouldn't be in the position we're in.
"If they hadn't been there, me and my partner's mental health would have been affected too.
"At the end of the day it does take a village to raise a child, and Sure Start was our village in our time of need."
Katie said her frustrations inspired her to write to the political parties here urging them to take action to ensure that no children were left behind.
"This is our children's futures we're talking about and their actions are going to create ripples in the future for them," she said.
"They're stripping away the possibility of our kids thriving and I just think it's absolutely appalling.
"I'd like for our politicians to contact me, to sit down with myself and the staff of Sure Start services and justify their actions."
The Department of Education acknowledged that it was facing difficult decisions as a result of budgetary constraints.
A spokesperson for the Department said: "The Department has now received its budget allocation for 2023-24 from the Northern Ireland Office and is working through the detail.
"The allocation is extremely challenging and will likely require significant reductions across a wide range of areas to remain within budget.
"To sustain crucial Early Years services from April to June, DE has made an interim allocation of £7.6m to the Department of Health (DoH) for allocation to the 38 projects delivering the DE Sure Start programme.
"Following consideration of the education budget, the Department will confirm the final Sure Start allocation as soon as possible.
"We regret the uncertainty this will create for everyone involved in the delivery of this vital programme.
"Sure Start plays a crucial role in many communities and we are grateful for all the work, dedication and commitment of Sure Start staff for the benefits they deliver to the lives of our children on a daily basis."
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