CYP Now - Editorial: Government must hold its nerve on Sure Start

What gets measured, gets money could be the mantra of the present Government. Labour's eight years in power have been marked by an obsession with evidence-based policy making. But one result of such methods is that it's easy to panic when the evidence base appears to be negative.

So, the news last week that an unpublished evaluation of the 3bnSure Start initiative, by the Institute for the Study of Children,Families and Social Issues at the University of London, is expected toshow local programmes have not made a jot of difference to families willworry many professionals involved in the initiative and its successor,the 3,500 children's centres to be built by 2010 (Children Now, 14-20September).

However, as the analysis on page 11 makes clear, quantifying success ina project like Sure Start is not as straightforward as it might seem,and results don't appear overnight. For instance, while it might besimple to work out how many parents have returned to work, measuringimproved parenting skills is much more difficult.

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's Included