Government should aspire to early intervention legacy

31 October 2011 1 min read Ravi Chandiramani Children's Services Early help Editorial

CYP Now joined forces with 4Children to convene a roundtable discussion a fortnight ago with a dozen directors of children's services and chief executives. They were invited to debate a key issue of our times: how to turn the rhetoric on early intervention into tangible improvements in the lives of the mostdisadvantaged children and families. Participants raised a multitude of points. Here are six of the best.

First, early intervention demands an integrated workforce. There was talk of a "new frontline", with practitioners needing to think out of their silos and come together to work on the basis of a shared purpose to improve outcomes. But training is necessary to boost the capacity of this workforce. Second,
funding is an enormous challenge. While the benefits of early intervention are far and wide, securing buy-in from other departments and agencies can be a tortuous challenge, although some areas are pooling resources to create community budgets. And scepticism surrounds payment-by-results funding from private investors. Indeed, as we report elsewhere, Essex Council is looking to shoulder the risk of its major outlay in multi-systemic therapy to keep children out of care.

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