The government’s new ‘Best start in life’ strategy, and the roll out of Family Hubs across the country gives welcome priority to improving children’s outcomes by focussing on the early years and making family services more widely available and easier to access.
We are particularly pleased to see the new strategy put evidence-based parenting support at the heart of services for families. We know that parenting support is one of the best available levers to ensure that children develop and thrive. Recent evidence produced by Foundations shows that parenting support is effective in addressing parental stress, mental health and the risk of harm to children, as well as the challenges faced by parents of children with Special Educational Needs.
The plan for Family Hubs to provide a single ‘front door’ for early help for families at risk should mean that family workers can provide targeted or specialist support quickly, before problems escalate, and protect vulnerable children. It is also encouraging to see Best Start Family Hubs prioritise services to reduce family risks such as domestic abuse, parental conflict, substance abuse and mental health, which we know can contribute to poor outcomes for children.
Jo Casebourne, Chief Executive, commented:
“’Giving every child the best start in life’ underlines the priority that the Government gives to intervening early to improve children’s outcomes and to tackling developmental inequalities that emerge quickly. It is a welcome acknowledgement that evidence-based support for families is integral to ensuring that children get the start they need to thrive.’
“The strategy puts parenting support front and centre, and it’s crucial that we follow the evidence here on what improves children’s outcomes. For this reason, we particularly welcome the plan for a ‘new evidence-informed core offer’ for parents through Best Start Family Hubs. Foundations Toolkit has information on interventions shown to make a difference and we will be supporting local authorities to use this resource as they develop their offer to families.
“We also back the vision for Family Hubs to be a ‘front door’ for vulnerable families to access Family Help, so that we can tackle family risks such as domestic abuse, poor mental health and parental conflict, which increase children’s vulnerability, and reduce their chances of thriving.”
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Contact: Lucy Burns, Head of Communications and Public Affairs: 0777 925 0888