Memorandum submitted by the Northumberland County Council

 

 

1. Does the Children's Centre model of integrated services for under-5s & families promote early childhood development and is it an effective response to deprivation?

 

In Northumberland the Sure Start Children's Centres contribute to both these aims, in particular through:

· Increased access to high quality early years and parenting provision in disadvantaged communities offering a number of new services ; e.g. subsidized child care / involvement in 2 year pilot / DCATCH (Disabled Children's Access to Childcare) initiative, effective allocation of funding for childcare to children assessed by FACT (Family and Children's Trust) teams as in need of respite care.

· Support from the Central Performance team has enabled each locality to target support to children around the Foundation Stage profile using data and information to support the intervention planning process, and target service delivery, especially with regards to the 'narrowing the gap' agenda.

· We work to an agreed SEF (Self Evaluation ) process across the county, again with the advice and support of the Performance Team, allowing a clear focus on evidencing impact on outcomes for children.

· Adult learning & employability activities and services, alongside some or all of the above, support parents in finding routes out of poverty;

· Close partnership across agencies supports collaboration around the safeguarding agenda, with shared working practices, information sharing and clear referral pathways.

Specialist advice and support on site (or signposted), enabling early intervention for children with developmental delay/emerging special needs and disabilities or where there are safeguarding concerns. Comments, suggestions or examples to illustrate these points?

DCATCH pilot / implementation of Inclusion toolkit

Speech and Language Therapists input supported by trained Language Development Workers

Lead Safeguarding Advisor Role to address safeguarding issues / links with FACT Teams

Children's Centres and schools successfully engage families who are among those who are considered to be hard-to-reach, including families affected by poverty, poor living environments, health problems and other features of social exclusion.

Children's Centres and schools offering Extended Services have a key role in addressing child poverty.

Regular, universal work can often lead to the identification of high risk cases. Often these cases would not have been picked up and positive outcomes would not have been achieved without Sure Start intervention.

 

 

2. Views on the range and effectiveness of services provided by Children's Centres

 

Highlight the benefits of integrated model, in terms of increased scope for early intervention (i.e. specialist advice & support without need for a referral or appointment etc), holistic responses to children's needs (e.g. supporting parent's mental health as well as child's language and behaviour) and increased reach of families who wouldn't usually access relevant services & might be put off by stigma, making & keeping appointments, travel etc.

 

Presence of high quality Early Years facilities and family-friendly resources in their own community draws families in, so that can be supported or signposted towards any support they may need.

 

Northumberland's Sure Start Children Centres are rigorously monitored and inspected and there is a clear framework for effective performance.

 

An important principle of the Sure Start model is that there is a wide range of services provided including universal services. This reduces stigmatisation for service users and supports easy transition for families who may move into (and out of) targeted or specialist services as family circumstances change. An equally important principle is that these services can be provided by a range of providers to enable high quality, inclusive and diverse services that can maximise reach and engagement.

 

All Northumberland Sure Start Children's Centres have reshaped services to get a balance between universal and targeted provision? We have also endeavoured to ensure each Centre offers 'specialist" provision for particular group's e.g. teenage parents/ Dads /BME / Children with disabilities, and in Northumberland's case families who live in rurally isolated areas of the county. Each programme endeavours to provide a balance between supporting parents, whilst ensuring we can evidence benefits for children (e.g. ensuring family support does impact positively on children not just parent confidence etc?)

 

3. Funding, sustainability and value for money

 

Funding allocation in Northumberland Children's Centres is based on a budget formula agreed at strategic management group. Including voluntary sector representative with an equal voice in decision making. By basing each Centres allocation on numbers of children whether or not SSLP/CC 30%/70% SOA areas, and the size of buildings relating to actual running costs, an equal and realistic allocation of funds has been agreed. This also allows each locality to direct resources to frontline services, where they show the most benefit for children and families.

 

A particular sticking point is longer term sustainability of Children's Centre childcare provision. The government's plans to have affordable and flexible childcare is not being experienced on the ground (except in London where there's been more funding to boost affordable childcare in the capital and help unemployed parents back to work). In a competitive market parents will go for cheapness at the expense of quality. This is a worry for our Children's Centres, which are often not the cheapest but do offer an excellent standard of care. Tendering/commissioning would mean established and valued childcare run by Children's Centres may go.

Early Sure Start programmes were required to establish day-care as part of the provision. As these were in the most disadvantaged areas sustainability has been a very challenging issue. In particular for day-care there is a tremendous difference between making provision high quality and making it affordable. Day-care providers often argue that the Nursery Education Grant funding for 3 and 4 year olds does not cover the true cost of the place.

 

 

The push to have Children's Centre day care provision run on a business model whilst also meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged i.e. "narrowing the gap" and developing a "world class" early years workforce is an example of where current policy is difficult to apply in practice.

 

Phase 1 and 2 Children's Centres have been quite generously funded - this has been essential to establish services in very disadvantaged communities and where there is often very significant need.

 

There was also some concern about the difficulty of attracting and retaining Early Year's Professionals when they will have to undertake a degree, but know they will still be paid a nursery nurse salary on completion. All staff need to feel valued and recognised, especially those in this position working alongside Teachers who are paid significantly more than they are, in addition many early years staff are already highly qualified and experienced, before setting out to gain EYP status.

 

Northumberland's Children's Centres have established Value for money principles through commissioning, setting up Service Level Agreements, and continuous re-shaping of core budgets in response to local need. Supporting parents to access their own funding through constituted groups and /or voluntary management committees.

 

Capital plans have included the widespread use of Play vans for phase 3, as a value for money alternative to buildings and the associated ongoing revenue costs.

 

An important area of work established in 2002 was the co-location of services, to this end several fire stations across Northumberland now host Children's Centres and associated services. This way of working has produced numerous benefits allowing the Children Centre and Fire Service teams to collaborate on projects such as home safety assessments, including the fitting of smoke detectors and carbon monoxide monitors, car seat safety, and seasonal campaigns such as candle safety, bonfire safety etc. This collaborative approach has reduced deaths and casualties in Northumberland, and opened the door for further collaboration.

 

 

4. How well Children's Centres work with other partners and services, especially schools and health services

 

Northumberland Children's Centres are part of the Family and Children's Trust and sit within 0-19 learning service, this approach has led to a more joined up approach between schools and Children's Centres.

 

Experience in Northumberland has suggested that it has been difficult to engage with some health colleagues, although this situation is greatly improving. Ideally Children's Centres are a partnership with health, schools, JC+ (Job Centre Plus) and social care - as opposed to working in partnership with them, but the reality has been difficult to achieve, although at a local level there are some very good relationships and successful integrated working.. However this is not systematic and indeed systems often make this difficult to achieve - particularly in relation to professional and agency boundaries, agency policies, procedures and protocols, information sharing, understanding of roles and remit and at times a professional "snobbery."

 

At Strategic level the Health Visitor Lead Manager is proactive in engagement, and now sits on the Locality Managers group, there are also recently appointed H.V leads to be linked into each Localities structure.

 

We all believe this situation would be improved if working with and in Sure Start Children's Centres were put into Health and Education's performance management and funding requirements. All parties need to have a shared vision and understanding of the Sure Start model. Staff shortages, recruitment issues and pressure on Health practitioners in respect of safeguarding, and now to some extent the Swine Flu outbreak are deemed as barriers to full engagement.

 

In Northumberland Children Centre Managers are involved in Extended Services steering groups and have reciprocal arrangements for Extended Services staff and partners on Children Centre stakeholder groups, but relationships vary within and between school partnerships

 

There is a strong third sector involvement in the Northumberland structure, with a range of contracts, Commissioning and partnering agreements in place. We have an established effective model if this was to change then services to families would be adversely affected.

 

Local charities (Children North East) with a long history and therefore known and trusted by very local communities can be harnessed and commissioned to provide trusted services. Innovative solutions, for example, in deeply rural areas can be sought out and sustained, e.g. a children centre managed by a group of parents in the North Tyne

 

The involvement of the third sector can bring confidence, trust and loyalty of communities. The non-stigmatising and non-threatening nature of the sector is crucial. Key partners in Northumberland include Barnardo's and Action for Children, both organisations have a recognised quality workforce, are able to clearly demonstrate outcomes, have robust systems in place to do this, backed up by strong structural and organisational support.

The third sector can respond quickly and pool resources to meet needs, but to do this effectively commissioning needs to be clear, transparent and opportunities for delivery balanced across all sectors, with a built in need for full cost recovery for all commissioned services.

 

The Children's Centres work well with key partners to deliver the Two Year Olds Pilot which provides 86 places of up to 10 hours of free childcare for children from the IDACI 15% most disadvantaged areas. Strong links are forged with leads from the LA, HV, and CAF.

 

 

 

5. Are services being accessed by those most in need and how effective are they for the most vulnerable?

 

Northumberland Children's Centres have a 'hard to reach strategy' and reports on success / failure of this work in its self evaluation form (SEF).

 

In terms of challenges, a gap that we identified was a link with adult services. The experience was that even when adult mental health or drugs teams had been working with a parent for a long time they were often unaware that a child existed or didn't see that they had any role in signposting the family / child to services for the child. This again goes back to adult services acting on the principles of the 'Think Family' agenda. Children's Centres would be in a much better position to support vulnerable families if they were routinely informed about children who have experienced parental substance misuse or parental mental health problems. Adult services really need to pick up on this and refer more; again guidance at a national level would help to influence this.

 

It would also be helpful if Children's Centres were involved in pre-birth conferences, extending and supporting a sometimes difficult link to Midwifery teams and ante-natal services.

 

The general feeling was that we'd like for there to be a broader, more holistic approach and a real commitment to 'Think Family'. ''There's only so much we can do without help from other agencies". Referrals, or making people aware of what Children's Centres offer, should be part of a range of agencies' pathway planning (like registering with a school and a GP). Common Assessment Frameworks should be used more too, with a greater focus on the Lead Professional role. Northumberland currently offers a wide range of tailor made services targeting groups such as Fathers, teenage parents, Travellers and so on, these bespoke services, allow families access to a wide range of opportunities , supporting personal development, parenting skills and their contribution to the local community.

 

Through the Two Year Olds Pilot, family support is being provided to parents and children within the DCSF criteria for that pilot.

 

 

6. How models of SSCCs have developed as the programme spreads from less deprived neighbourhoods

 

 

Within Barnardo's Children's Centres, the Northumberland model, centres are run as a partnership between Barnardo's and Northumberland County Council. Staffing structures and ways of working have saved money and both organisations staff work together to deliver on the ground.

 

Action for Children manage one of the largest Children's Centre in Northumberland and thus have capacity to accommodate a wide range of partner agencies; such as, local health visitor's and the Barnardo's Fathers worker as well as Northumberland County Council staff. This model has resulted in greater reach to the local community and innovative partnership working.

In Northumberland we have developed a locality approach to service delivery which takes account of population size, levels of deprivation and local needs. We ensure equitable use of resources across the locality -the larger SSLP act as hub and staff resources are deployed across the area. To ensure value for money, ,we have undertaken a rationalisation of services to ensure all services are relevant to the identified needs of the local community -evidenced by increased take up

In phase 2 centres with smaller 30% populations, we have looked at how we place the location of centres in target areas to ensure effective service delivery.

In all areas of Northumberland effective partnership working with the third sector is often vital for wide spread and effective service provision.

 

 

7. Staffing, governance, management and strategic planning

 

In Northumberland all the Children Centre Locality Managers are highly trained and experienced in the delivery of integrated service provision and all now hold the NPQICL qualification. Many of the Sure Start staff are now qualified to level three and above, and a significant number are progressing to a degree level qualification. There is a high level of motivation and commitment from all the staff teams, with many staff working across agency boundaries to ensure effective service provision, multi-agency partnerships, skill sharing, and on-going CPD which benefits all, especially the children and families.

Northumberland is a county of contrasts, with urban areas and vast, sparsely populated rural areas; it is acknowledged that one size does not fit all. We need to be flexible and react locally to local need. Rural areas do not fit with the earlier emphasis on the most disadvantaged 30% areas and have historically 'missed out' on the provision of vital services. With the flexibility to adopt a more universal service, we are able to include these areas, some of which are within the third worst IMD in terms of access to services, and address issues such as rural isolation and increased risk of post natal depression. With more advanced method of data collection (E-start) we are able to identify very small pockets of deprivation (sometimes just a few streets) within larger more affluent areas, and thus whilst providing a universal offer, can help and support these more vulnerable families.

 

Our Locality model offers clear lines of accountability /responsibility to Children Centre managers and staff, with a clearly identified route to and from the FACT board. Thus ensuring effective joined -up response to need and allocation of frontline resources.

 

We are linked into CWDC / EYP developments with regards to workforce development and at local level are now developing a more effective framework for identifying staff training needs to ensure high level continuous professional development, especially around safeguarding. We are able to show good evidence of 'growing our own' staff in Children's Centres, with a range of identified progression routes for staff

 

With regards to governance, we are now considering the idea of a county wide advisory board to provide strategic guidance/direction and that under this each locality will develop governance/partnership structures that fit the needs of their locality.

 

In terms of strategic planning - close strategic links with health / Safeguarding board input/learning and development including central early years team.

 

Close links are in place with the LA's Families Information Service which includes training on the FIS data system in order that families can be informed via Children's Centres too.

 

October 2009