C4EO media release
28 January 2010
Joint ADCS and C4EO call for effective local practice: Early Intervention and Prevention
The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and C4EO (Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services) are requesting examples of effective local practice for Early Intervention and Prevention, with a particular focus on support for those children, young people and families which present us all with the greatest challenge and, therefore, potentially the most significant costs if these are not addressed at the earliest opportunity.
This joint call for evidence will:
- Support the work of the National Family Intervention Strategy Group. This group was established at the end of last year by Ed Balls (Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families) to examine the case for the development of intensive family intervention services, supporting families with complex problems.
It is chaired by Kim Bromley-Derry (President of ADCS) and includes representatives from national agencies (adult and children’s services) and has cross-government support.
- Contribute to the gathering of effective evidence of ‘what works’ by C4EO in relation to its cross-cutting theme of Early Intervention, Prevention and Integrated Delivery, being developed at the direct request of Directors of Children’s Services.
- Support the DCSF in their consultation on effective models of Early Intervention and Prevention.
It is recognised that local practice frequently out-strips national research and evidence and examples of local practice are requested which:
- Enables the effective identification and assessment of the needs of vulnerable children and families.
- Demonstrates effective partnership and integrated working, including different models for structuring effective multi-agency support including intensive intervention with families with complex problems.
- Engages parents at the early signs of a child or young person’s problem and works with the family to address it.
- Supports a strong culture of prevention.
- Shows how joint working by Children’s Trust Board partners has enabled a focused approach to early intervention.
It is hoped that examples will include practice which demonstrates:
- Financial sustainability – the potential impact of interventions with families at risk of very poor outcomes in driving reductions in services costs and barriers/drivers in the current economic climate.
- Impact on the care system – how family intervention can be used to drive reductions in pressures on the care system.
- Safeguarding – the contribution made by family interventions in safeguarding children, how they should work alongside universal services and what actions are needed to ensure this happens.
C4EO will collate and validate these examples, using the C4EO process of validation (which includes a demonstrable impact on outcomes for children, young people or their families) and external ‘peer’ assessment.
What should you do next?
C4EO and ADCS hope that you will be able to support this important call and encourage your teams who can demonstrate effective practice in this area to help share it with the sector.
If you would like to submit an example of effective local practice, please signup to the C4EO website if you haven't already. Once you have a C4EO account you will need to login and complete the local practice online submission form.
Alternatively you can download a copy of the local practice submission form (77Kb Word file, 6 pages) and send to C4EOTeam@NFER.ac.uk.
Further information about validated local practice (87Kb Word file, 3 pages) is also available.
Validated practice will contribute to the on-going work of the National Family Intervention Strategy Group and will also be published on the C4EO website. You will be advised of the outcome of the validation process on your local practice and our intent to use your material in advance, seeking your permission to publicise your information in anyway.
If you have any queries about this process, or need any support to complete your submission, please contact Monica Hetherington and the C4EO team at NFER on 01753 574123 or C4EOTeam@nfer.ac.uk.
Ends
Notes for editors:
The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO) is a collaborative
centre which gathers and shares the best knowledge available of ‘what works’ to
contribute to a step change in improving outcomes for children and young people,
especially those who are most vulnerable.
An independent consortium sponsored by the Department for Children, Schools and
Families, C4EO was launched in July 2008. It has been developed for the
children’s sector from the children’s sector and works with a consortium of four
core partners who deliver key elements of its programme: NCB, the National
Foundation for Educational Research, Research in Practice and the Social Care
Institute for Excellence. C4EO is neither a regulator nor a field force. For
further information on C4EO, its themes, and the support it provides to Local
Authorities and their Children’s Trust partners visit
http://www.c4eo.org.uk
Back to news
Top
