Children’s Fund
The Children’s Fund is targeted at 5-13-year-olds and is a key part of the Government’s strategy to tackle disadvantages and inequalities, which derive from child poverty and social exclusion. Children’s Fund teams are located in each Government Office.
The Children’s Fund is locally determined and flexible. This makes it particularly good for meeting the needs of diverse and changing communities, adding value to other services and working across boundaries of home and school. As a preventive programme, there is an emphasis on supporting children within the home and the school, and in the wider community. There is also a strong focus on supporting parents both in their parenting, and with other issues including domestic violence, counselling, family support and health awareness.
The Children’s Fund is focused on developing services that support multi-agency working, bringing together preventative services, that recognise the value of partnership working between the voluntary, community and statutory sectors.
The Children’s Fund supports services to identify and respond to the needs of children and young people who are showing early signs of difficulty, and a key feature of the programme is that it actively involves children and young people and their parents in planning and delivering services.
The Children's Fund is seen as an agent for change in the delivery of preventative services for children and young people and as such we expect to see the lessons learning from the programme integrated in to the development of Children's Trusts by 2008.
Sure Start
Sure Start aims to increase the availability of childcare for all children, and work with parents to be, parents and children to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of babies and young children. Particular focus will be on those who are disadvantaged, enabling them to flourish at home and when they get to school and allowing parents to work and contributing to the ending of child poverty.
The Sure Start Unit has a headquarters based in London and a regional structure with teams based in each of the nine Government Offices for the Regions.
Evidence collected during the Government’s 2002 review of childcare showed that.
- Childcare can make a positive difference to children, parents and communities – helping to tackle child poverty, improve children’s achievements at school, allow parents to choose work as a route out of poverty, improve health and reduce crime.
- Children, parents and communities benefit when childcare, early education and health and family support are offered together. There are significant pay-offs in offering these services to disadvantaged young children.
The review concluded that:
- There is a strong case for the Government to invest in new, good quality childcare.
- Existing services should be expanded and should place more emphasis on health and family support.
- New investment in childcare services needs to be backed by strengthening the role of local authorities in ensuring delivery.
More information can be found on the Sure Start website including programme contact details, discussion boards and job vacancies in local programmes. There is also a Sure Start National Enquiry Line 0870 000 2288 and E-mail info.surestart@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
