Sure Start

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Sure Start has released Best Practice for a Sure Start: The Way Forward for Children’s Centres. 

Key findings from the report include:

• Registration of births should take place in Children’s Centres, which would offer an effective means of alerting new parents to services available
• There should be more integration between Children’s Centres and Job Centre Plus to prepare parents for work and link them into wider support and provision
• Volunteers make a vital contribution to Children’s Centres and comprehensive volunteer programmes with accredited training should be developed at all centres
• Children’s Centres should support and facilitate parents to encourage their children and babies’ development
• Children’s Centres should encourage the role of fathers as an equal partner in parenting
• Children’s Centres should “base-line” families’ needs on first contact in order to evaluate their impact more effectively
• Local Sure Start, health visiting and midwifery budgets should be pooled to strengthen early intervention and avoid duplication of services

Source: www.4children.org.uk/Files/cffc42fe-49eb-43e2-b330-a1fd00b8077b/Best-Practice-for-a-Sure-Start.pdf

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