Speaking at a debate on early intervention at the Houses of Parliament today (14 December), Clay Yeager, who has worked on a range of successful early intervention schemes in the US including Nurse Family Partnerships, said that "too much money was being wasted" on programmes that have no evidence to show that they work. "In the US we used to fund a programme where we would take children to visit prisoners in jails. The hope was that the snarling inmates would put off the young people from committing crime. It sounded like a good idea but when research was carried out into the programme it made little difference to whether that juvenile committed a crime," he said.
He added that crime diversion programmes such as boot camps that were popular with politicians actually proved ineffective at diverting young people away from crime when placed under the scrutiny of researchers.
Local authorities and other commissioners of services need to ask for solid evidence that programmes make a lasting difference to children and young people’s lives before they grant funding, he said. A number of early intervention programmes, including Communities That Care, The Incredible Years and Nurse Family Partnerships, had met "the highest standard of inquiry" and set the benchmark for other schemes to follow, he added.
The debate was hosted by Labour MP Graham Allen, who is due to reveal the findings of his first independent review into early intervention in January. Allen said that the focus of his review will look at the value of intervening in the lives of children aged from birth to three but added that he was aware of the importance of supporting children and young people until they reach 18. "If you’re helping to create good parents then it’s never too late to intervene," he said.
