Community Family Care
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Vision, Mission & Values
    • The Team
    • Our Trustees
    • Testimonials
    • Work For Us
  • Our Services
    • Family Group Conferences >
      • FGC Information for Kids
      • FGC Information for Family & Friends
      • FGC Information for Professionals
    • Working For Families
    • BoA Youth
    • Art Journal Project
    • LifeCoach
    • Story Explorers
    • Family and Child Support for Schools
    • Chill and Chat
  • News And Views
  • Useful Links
  • Contact Us

Industry News: Early intervention needs decade-long service plans, says charity

29/4/2013

 
Picture
Action for Children has said 10-year plans for children’s services are needed at national and local level to encourage the development of early intervention work.

A report by the children’s charity into the barriers to early intervention services said that despite agreement at all levels of government that such provision was best, short- and medium-term thinking was holding back its development.

“Fundamentally, our political and funding structures are working against the collective desire to change the way we respond to the needs of vulnerable children and families,” said the report.

It recommended that central government sets out decade-long spending plans for children’s services that are agreed by all political parties.

This, the charity said, would provide local authorities with the stability they need to shift their services towards early intervention.

The report also proposed a series of steps that local authorities could take to develop early intervention approaches.

These included awarding long-term contracts to external service providers, using social impact bonds to fund the transition to early intervention and carrying out a one-off needs assessment to identify how a more preventative approach could affect demand for services.

Matthew Downie, head of campaigns and public affairs at Action for Children, said: “The short-term funding that is currently handed down to local authorities means that a children’s service has barely enough time to be set up and begin delivering support before its staff have to plan for reconfiguration or, even worse, face closure.

“This has a damaging effect on young people; many will have just learned to trust their key workers, only to suddenly find themselves with new people to work with, or with no help at all.”

Action for Children’s report was partially based on research it commissioned from the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) that examined what stops local authorities from doing more early intervention work.

The SCIE study identified tensions between councils’ long-term visions and strategies and meeting immediate needs as well as gaining support from elected members. 

It also noted that some local authorities struggle to decommission underperforming services due to political sensitivities, historic council-provider relationships and a long-standing focus on outputs rather than outcomes.


Source: www.cypnow.co.uk/cyp/news/1077047/early-intervention-decade-service-plans-charity


Comments are closed.

    News & Views

    Here's where we'll be posting our own news, as well as industry news. 

    You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

    Categories

    All
    Art Journal Project
    BoA Youth
    CFC In The Press
    CFC News
    Chill & Chat Sessions
    FACSS
    Family Group Conferences
    Get Crafty!
    Health News
    Industry News
    Parenting Column
    Training

    RSS Feed

Picture
People’s Postcode Trust is a grant-giving charity funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Our charity received a £4,000 grant from the Trust to go towards IT equipment and to cover training and recruitment costs for five new sessional Family Support Workers.

www.postcodetrust.org.uk
www.postcodelottery.co.uk
Community Family Care
Unit A Kingsholm Mews
76 Kingsholm Road
Gloucester
GL1 3BD
​

01452 840999
info@communityfamilycare.co.uk
  • Community Family Care is part of Community Foster Care
  • Community Family Care is Investors in People accredited
  • Charity Registration Number: 1084124
  • Company Number: 03719101
Website by lizhawkins.co.uk
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Vision, Mission & Values
    • The Team
    • Our Trustees
    • Testimonials
    • Work For Us
  • Our Services
    • Family Group Conferences >
      • FGC Information for Kids
      • FGC Information for Family & Friends
      • FGC Information for Professionals
    • Working For Families
    • BoA Youth
    • Art Journal Project
    • LifeCoach
    • Story Explorers
    • Family and Child Support for Schools
    • Chill and Chat
  • News And Views
  • Useful Links
  • Contact Us