Early Adopter Communities - process evaluation: research findings

Targeting and Reach

EAC provision was intended to be targeted at the six priority groups identified by Scotland’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan (Best Start, Bright Futures) as being most at risk of experiencing child poverty: lone parent families; families with a disabled adult or child; larger families (three or more children); minority ethnic families; families with a child under one year old; and families where the mother is under 25 years old.

Broadly speaking, processes used by EACs had been effective in reaching and engaging these priority groups. Families in each group had attended EAC provision, although there was variation in the proportion of each group across EACs.

Attendance rates had generally been in line with EACs’ expectations. Projects had not experienced much drop off in the number of families between sign up and attendance, indicating that EACs’ processes had been effective in maintaining engagement. However, there were concerns that some families had not used all their allocated days when they were fully funded. Where EACs monitored attendance and engaged with families in this situation, this helped to ensure that families had access to the right amount of provision to meet their needs.

There were a range of promotion and communication strategies, including a mix of targeted and universal approaches. Direct communication from trusted individuals or organisations, such as schools, was considered particularly effective.

Both professionals and families who participated in the evaluation considered the application and registration processes to be accessible. EACs had made efforts to simplify forms and provide support to families to attend. Parents valued the opportunity to visit childcare services with their children before or during registration to ensure a good fit. However, there were indications that some families were reluctant to share details on their child’s additional support needs.