Select Committee on Education and Skills Minutes of Evidence


Memorandum submitted by the Policy Research Bureau

UNIVERSAL SERVICES

  The research suggests that universal services, available to all irrespective of level of need, play a vital role in preventing poor outcomes for children. Universal services in the UK currently range from those provided by statutory health and social care agencies (eg antenatal care and the health visiting service for families with pre-school children) to various forms of parenting support services provided by the statutory sector, the voluntary sector or both in partnership (eg some SureStart services, a national telephone helpline [Parentline Plus], newsletters and leaflets.

  The research shows they can perform the following functions effectively:

    —  Increase parents' knowledge about aspects of child development and child care through provision of basic information and advice to parents—for example, safety in the home, nutrition and diet, the importance of inoculation against early childhood disease.

    —  Achieve change in simple parenting behaviours.

    —  Act as a gateway to other services—for example, provision of information on where to get further help.

    —  "Boost parents" informal networks where group activities are offered, by providing a place to meet and interact with other local parents

  The research base on open access, universal services is extremely weak, however, and should be improved as a matter of urgency, given the costs of providing such services.

  There is a strong case for providing universal services as research shows that the majority of parents admit to difficulties with or lack of knowledge about child care and parenting at some point in their child's lifetime. In addition, it is generally thought that universal services can contribute to the acceptability of services amongst the public by "normalising" service use. However, there is also considerable evidence that these services are not always experienced in a positive way by families who use them. They need to guard against seeming to preach or teach and to ensure they work in a partnership model with users.

  Research also shows that despite the label, "universal" services will frequently fail to reach all parents. They often do not reach those in greatest need who have more serious problems in parenting. For example, the national study of 1,750 parents in poor neighbourhoods (Ghate and Hazel 2002) showed that in the poorest areas of Britain, around two thirds of parents said they had never received a visit from a Health Visitor.

  Therefore, universal services need to be complemented by targeted services aimed at those with particular needs.

TARGETED SERVICES

  The research evidence is clear that targeted services, when properly designed and delivered with care by appropriately trained and skilled professionals, can be effective at:

    —  Changing attitudes to parenting and child care, and boosting parents' confidence.

    —  Changing parents' behaviours (for example, reducing the use of harsh discipline) and fostering problem-solving skills and more constructive interactions between parents and children.

    —  Improving parent-child relationships.

    —  Reducing the incidence of problematic child behaviours.

    —  Supporting children's learning and educational progress.

  The more entrenched and serious the problems, the greater the intensity and duration of targeted services required to achieve change. Targeted services always run the risk of seeming stigmatising to those to whom they are offered, which can be a powerful disincentive to uptake. Therefore targeted services have, in particular, to pay attention to how they reach and engage with parents. There is mounting evidence that the skills and specific training of staff that deliver these interventions is critical, and that poorly or inadequately trained staff do not achieve effective results.

CONCLUSIONS

  The research so far supports the general approach described in Every Child Matters of promoting and improving universal services whilst also ensuring access to more specialised help when required.[25] Both types of service are essential. The boundaries between the two types of service need to be kept permeable, and is important not to think of users of targeted services as a somehow different group from those who use universal services. The same families may move in and out of the two groups depending on lifestage, and on changing family and personal circumstances. Universal services can however play an important role in preventing difficulties escalating to the point where targeted services are necessary. However, to achieve genuinely integrated services it will be essential to focus attention on the ways that universally available services achieve identification and onward referral of families and children in need.

REFERENCES

  Moran P; Ghate D and Van der Merwe A (2004) What works in parenting support: a review of the international evidence Research Report 574  London: DfES.

  Ghate D and Hazel N (2002) Parenting in poor environments: stress, support and coping London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.





25   Paragraph 1.2, Every Child Matters: Change for Children London: DfES 2004. Back


 
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