Surestart should be reistated for the good of the nation

[Wavywoo]

The report out today that shows the longterm benefits of the Surestart programme confirms what supporters of the scheme said all along.

The government have grossly mismanaged public resource, and done children and families a massive diservice, in defunding Surestart, and yet claiming to have spent several times more on Early Years.

I don’t think there is enough money now and society has moved on. Families are getting free childcare, both parents are often now working and actually I think teens and young adults are the group needing better investment and which get the least. Mental health provision across the board is on its knees. Spare cash needs to go there.

But if you don’t adequately fund the early years, by the time children are teens, it’s like closing the gates after the horse has bolted.

The government claim to have spent multiple times more on Early Years, so the money absolutely was/is there.

Other services including mental health definitely do needs to be funded properly too, I agree.

As far as I know all the research (in several countries) shows that when the early years are well supported with effective provision, the issues for later childhood difficulties are reduced, including poor MH, drugs, crime etc in teens and young adults

Its more than 'every child matters' as an ideology needs reinstating, along with community hubs and centres that actually deliver a full programme of a mix of activities and support.

Places like this are a ‘nice to have’ not an essential. At the moment even the essential services aren’t funded properly, so it’s not the time for extras.

I would say you completely misunderstand what they are/were and what impact they have

Do you work with children/in social care?

Im at the coal face of this and I can tell you the lack of provision and support across the board is now paying off spectacularly - not in a good way

It's this sort of short term crisis management based thinking that loses us better outcomes for society overall.

I would argue that the model pays for itself over time in reduction in social isolation, reduction in mental health issues, a better qualified and therefore more employable populace who then are able to pay more tax.

I truly believe that the scheme benefits society as a whole, and we really cannot afford to see it as a nice to have.

Yes it should be reinstated and if rich people need to pay more in the short term to make it happen my heart won't bleed

Sorry I don’t agree. My children had Surestart, their generation is in the midst of a mental health crisis and there is no provision anywhere. Money needs to go there. Also the early years are already having a lot of funding.

Of course they should be reinstated, every study shows that good support in Early Years has far reaching benefits for crime, poor mental health and education in teens and young adults.

The Tories have plenty of billions to line the pockets of their pals, they just don’t give a fuck about anything else.

My eldest is 21, when he was a toddler we used to live near a SureStart centre. The "catchment area" of the centre was very mixed, with some real pockets of poverty and deprivation, a large immigrant community, but also some more affluent middle class areas where the parents were not facing challenges in raising their kids. Every afternoon there was something going on at the centre and we made lots of use of it, despite not falling into the real target group. Everyone I met through going to their craft sessions, active play sessions, sing and rhyme sessions wasn't their target "deprived" group either.

Heard a HV at a baby clinic several times telling parents about the centre and encouraging attendance, usually with the response that it wasn't the sort of thing they were interested in. You can lead a horse to water...

In my area there are still a few "family hubs" which act similar to what I believe sure starts were. I attended a breastfeeding group there most weeks until I returned to work.

The problem I found was that almost everyone attending the group (including myself) was driving in from a fair distance and were generally more affluent (teachers/doctors etc) whereby the hub is in a very deprived area. I think other sessions there were attended by a similar demographic. I can imagine this would be the problem if sure start centre were bought back.

I didn’t misunderstand at all, and yes I do work with children.

Sure start centres were great but many of the services could be provided in other ways and I would prioritise mental health services and schools first.

Most of what sure start did can still be accessed by parents, they just have to look harder to find it.

Sure start (or similar programmes focused on family wellbeing & child development in the early years) are not an "extra" or a "nice to have"

I firmly believe the epidemic of mental health issues that young people are experiencing now has been exacerbated by the ending of 90% of sure start centres in the country.

I used to work in data collection centrally for the programme in a big UK city. Once the Tories got in, funding was removed & the council struggled on for a few years, tried outsourcing, but ultimately the majority closed & the ones that remained no longer offered a universal service - which is important to reach ALL families as it becomes a community resource & not just somewhere targeted at the poor.

One of the worst things this government has done & the effects of it will be felt for a long time.

But mental health for the generation who had Surestart is dire. The numbers out of work or education is huge. There is no provision and if we’re now spending a fortune on free childcare I’m not sure that yet more should be pumped into that age group when teens and young adults are struggling with nothing.

You have my sympathy, my children are also suffering with their mental health as teens, as well as SENs, and support services are absolutely in need of proper fundin.

However, I think that the money currently being spent on Early Years is being used much less effectively than it could be, and that the Surestart model was effective and should be reinstated.

I would argue that it should be extended to cover until 18 years as a comprehensive approach for family and child support.

Funding, and effectively managing, education, mental health and social services should be a government priority.

No young people struggling now had Surestart, I know because we attended it.

They had sure start when my daughter was a baby. She’s 12 now. It was about a 1 minute walk from my house and I used to go to the baby sensory play classes there.

It was mostly play group session and then ran courses on multiple stuff that was a load of crap. I went to some as my youngest had a disability. They were all useless, I knew more information then they did.

Honestly can’t see why we need them again.

I mostly used it to meet mates and have a chat while the toddlers played for free. Which I could do in a Softplay and pay. Funding doesn’t need to be wasted on this.

Oh and as a side note, I’m not in poverty, I wasn’t a single mum, I didn’t need help financially and I certainly didn’t need their courses they ran. Everyone I knew used it to hang out with the kids cheaply.

I imagine the cost of childcare is going to prevent many (those not eligible for the free hours for low incomes) from attending nursery. My son can go to nursery soon with the new hours otherwise he would have to wait until three. I do wonder if many of the toddlers now are going to miss out on socialising with peers because parents can't afford nursery.

No 18 is the massive cut off cliff edge that is such a massive issue for young people. We are in the midst of a mental health epidemic with next to no services. Any spare cash really does need to go there. Most families have 2 times working parents with free quality childcare so don’t need centres on top. We have better online services and info too.

I can't explain how angry this comment has made me, Surestart isn't the NCT with yummy mummies sat around drinking coffee.
Surestart was literally life changing for some families and especially for women.
I volunteered with Surestart for years and saw for myself how it lifted women from poverty by helping build their confidence and giving them the skills and encouragement to find paid employment.

That is the problem though. The ' hard to reach' families aren't looking. It was hard enough when they just had to go to one free local place. That's why they are ' hard to reach'. Having a one stop place where you could be taught about feeding, potty training, brushing your kids teeth, the child was socialised, where a health visitor could go, where parents could do an adult literacy/numeracy class while their child was looked after etc is more than ' nice to have'. Now everyone is doing things on the fly. Much of it is done by libraries, and they will be the next services to go.

They supported parents mental health, early intervention, role modelled positive parenting. A place to go for advice , to off load, make friends . Gain a support network.

I would say that's more than 'nice to have'

Without them it just means more children are arriving at school with needs that could have been supported earlier.

This is a common misconception about the scheme, but it operated it a variety of ways to engage with "difficult to reach" families, not just in terms of attending sessions.

Additionally, challenges and support needs are not confined to financially less well off people - one of the bigger groups at risk of isolation after birth are professional women who have little local support, for example.

Staff at our centre had a very clear understanding of our local demographic and git to know families individually to support in ways that worked for them, both in the centre and in the home.

This is a common misconception - Surestart staff worked with families both in the centre and in their homes. They got to know families individually and supported them in a way that worked for them as well as the universal sessions that you and other more middle class people attended.

Also, middle class/more affluent families absolutely benefit, and need, early years support because challenges are not necessarily poverty related. Social isolation, SENs and disabilities, for example.