“Early Intervention”eif.org.uk

Carey OppenheimCEO Early Intervention Foundation

@TheEIFoundation

WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

OUR OPTIONS

WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING

EARLY INTERVENTION… AND WHY?

A CROSS SECTOR VIEW – POLICE, HEALTH

THE CHALLENGE

THE EARLY INTERVENTION FOUNDATION

WORKING TOGETHER…

TODAY….

As a nation we are paying a significant price for failure…

£70,000 – the cost of each child with untreated behavioural problems, 10 times the cost of children without behavioural problems

£59,000 - the average annual cost for a young person to be placed in a young offenders institution

£10m a day - the productivity loss to the state as a result of youth unemployment

£2.9bn – the current total cost of children in care, half of which is spent with dealing with children who have been abused

Source: Early Intervention:The Next Steps, report by Graham Allen MP, January 2011

WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

We can either address these problems after they have occurred or we can take notice of their early warning signs and try to prevent them – both saving individuals from traumatic experiences and taxpayers from incurring the costs of cleaning up the damage.

OUR OPTIONS

WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING

CASE STUDY – FAMILY INTERVENTION PROJECT

Police social care and education referred family to FIP

4 eldest children not in school for 18 months No parental discipline. Father suffered depression,

mother alcohol dependent Danger of homelessness FIP convened multi-agency conference Education and training provision for children Tenancy agreements in place No further anti-social behaviour and all children

now in full time education

CASE STUDY – FAMILY NURSE PARTNERSHIP

17, pregnant with first child Chaotic family life, historical involvement of social

services Community midwife referred mum & unborn baby

to social services, due to history Worked with FNP to talk through past problems and

complete assessment with social care No child protection plan was required, a relief for

Gemma and a considerable cost saving for social care.

Baby is now 13 months old, a happy and thriving little boy with a healthy attachment to both parents

WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING

EARLY INTERVENTION

Every child needs support to achieve their potential but some children require extra help along the way. Early Intervention is about getting additional, timely and effective support to children who need it - preventing costly, long-term and traumatic consequences and enabling them to flourish.

0-18 Social and emotional skills, language and communication and

mental health Targeted

So why Early Intervention?

If we use the significant evidence base informing many Early Intervention programmes to get on the front foot and address potential problems in the lives of children and families in time, our approach will be more effective and can be significantly cheaper.

WHY EARLY INTERVENTION

Cost of Early Intervention Programme

Estimated lifetime cost of conduct problems/ disorder

Group parenting programme £600-900 per child

Cost of conduct problems £75,000

Intensive parenting programme (going into the household) £4,000 per child

Cost of conduct disorder £225,000

A CROSS SECTOR VIEW - POLICE

(Early Intervention) is a far more efficient use of public funds and there is a wealth of evidence to illustrate what an effective crime prevention tool it can be. (It) presents an opportunity to reduce future demand for many public services including health, education and the social services…At a time of contracting budgets, many would say they cannot afford to take on early intervention. My view is that we cannot afford not to. Chief Superintendent

Irene Curtis

We need to broaden the way we think so that the goal is always about prevention and early intervention over illness and treatment

A CROSS SECTOR VIEW - HEALTH

Duncan Selbie, CEO Public Health England

THE CHALLENGE

Support for early childhood interventions for disadvantaged children is a pretty good bet for economies interested in bolstering long-run growth and economic mobility. It's not the sort of programme with a strong political constituency, however, and so in an environment of weak growth and broad austerity, it's the sort of investment that's likely to get cut while corporate subsidies and benefits for retirees are maintained.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE – THE EARLY INTERVENTION FOUNDATION

Assess, Advise and Advocate

Convening power

What Works Centre – “Since resources will always be

limited, we should provide interventions which have

been shown through proper evaluation to be effective.”

[Archibald Cochrane, 1972]

We share CHYPS priorities …

Placing the needs and aspirations of young people as core to

our function

Improving outcomes for young people

Young people’s personal and social development

WORKING TOGETHER…

http://www.chyps.org.uk/about-us

WORKING TOGETHER…

Who is it aimed at?

What is the impact of the programme?

How much does it cost?

Benefit to taxpayers

Benefit to society as a

whole

Functional Family Therapy

11-18, at risk of delinquency

Reduced crime £2,600 £6,900 £31,500

LifeSkills Training 11-14 Reduced crimeReduced alcohol

and drug use

£27 £110 £290

Families and Schools Together

5-10, at risk Better behaviour £230 £240 £700

Success for All 4-11 Higher attainment £190 £880 £2,700

Effective youth programmes

Thank you

eif.org.uk @TheEIFoundation