Early Adopter Communities: Process Evaluation
This report presents the findings of an early process evaluation of the school age childcare Early Adopter Communities. It aims to identify what has worked well or less well during early set-up and implementation, to inform ongoing design and delivery.
Chapter 2. Overview of EAC activities
This chapter provides context for the remainder of the report, by giving an overview of the childcare and family support provided for families in each EAC. This includes highlighting key similarities and differences. It is structured around the process evaluation questions, detailed in Chapter 1, which cover the amount and type of childcare and family support provided and the extent to which this has been implemented as intended.
This chapter draws on information provided to the research team by project leads, and monitoring reports provided by EACs to the Scottish Government.
Key findings
- All EACs have met their commitment to offer school age childcare throughout the 2023/24 financial year, broadly in line with the activities specified in their original proposals to Scottish Government. As well as providing services for families, EACs were also expected to monitor progress, capture learning, and share this with the Scottish Government. This was achieved through EAC attendance at progress meetings with Scottish Government, networking sessions with each other and quarterly written reports submitted to the Scottish Government.
- All EACs were situated in communities with high levels of deprivation, and targeted families at higher risk of experiencing child poverty. However, specific delivery approaches were shaped by local circumstances. Some communities had large scale existing initiatives or a greater number of childcare services to build on.
- The childcare offer across EACs varied. Some areas had expanded existing services while others created new ones, and a mix of registered and unregistered childcare or activity providers were used. Some activities had changed over time due to the adaptive, iterative nature of EACs in testing different approaches to delivery.
- Each EAC offered funded places at breakfast, after school, and holiday clubs (although the individual offer to families varied). In some areas there were specialist services for children with additional support needs (ASN). Each EAC involved a wide range of local partners.
- While three EACs provided fully funded provision for families, Glasgow took a tapered approach based on household income, to reach more families.
- Family support provision varied, with some EACs more involved in targeting and supporting families with greater challenges in their lives. Three of the communities had family support workers to help reach families.
How have EACs been set up and implemented?
In Phase 2 of the EAC project, grant offers outlined that EACs were expected to continue to develop and test community-based, person-centred school age childcare in targeted local areas. All EACs have continued to offer school age childcare throughout the 2023/24 financial year, broadly in line with the activities specified in their original proposals to Scottish Government. However, some of these activities have changed over the course of the year due to the adaptive, iterative nature of the EACs in testing different approaches to delivery. Indeed, it is clear they have tested different approaches to delivery, with progress reports noting changes to activities and ways in which EACs have adapted services.
As well as providing services for families, EACs were also expected to monitor progress, capture learning, and share this with the Scottish Government. This was achieved through EAC attendance at progress meetings, networking sessions and quarterly written reports.
Table 2.1 provides an overview of the key features of each EAC, followed by a discussion of key similarities and differences. Further detail is included in the four community-specific theories of change, available in Appendix A.
Clackmannanshire |
Alloa South and East |
|---|---|
Dundee |
Linlathen |
Glasgow |
Drumchapel/ Anniesland, East Centre, and Southside Central Ward Areas |
Inverclyde |
Port Glasgow |
Clackmannanshire |
Limited school age childcare offer: Local authority delivered summer programmes but parents being supported into work by the Family Wellbeing Partnership reported that they were struggling to take on work because of a lack of suitable childcare. |
|---|---|
Dundee |
Limited school age childcare offer: Schools offered breakfast clubs, holiday clubs, and had Family Support Workers. One primary school offered an after-school club (funded by the Pupil Equity Fund). However, this operated three days a week for one hour, and food was provided at some but not all sessions. |
Glasgow |
Lack of affordable school age childcare: Despite a number of existing school age childcare providers operating in target areas of the city, the cost of childcare was a strain for low income families. |
Inverclyde |
Very limited school age childcare offer and lack of affordable options: local authority-run breakfast clubs were available in four out of five primary schools although the days were inconsistent. There was also limited registered provision offering before and after school care in another village, and five local childminders. Families reported that these private services were expensive or full. |
Clackmannanshire |
"To help families out of poverty, improve their wellbeing and capabilities, and enable them to have flourishing lives - achieved by developing opportunities to support families through early intervention activities, flexible childcare and routes into employment." |
|---|---|
Dundee |
"To co-design and deliver a person-centred, integrated system of school age childcare to support a community at high-risk of child poverty." |
Glasgow |
"To fund school age childcare to families that would be otherwise unable to afford it, and through this support families to improve their financial circumstances and reduce the poverty-related outcomes gap." |
Inverclyde |
"To deliver high quality, inclusive, family-centred, school age childcare provision that supports parents on a low income, and either in or progressing towards employment." |
Clackmannanshire |
|
|---|---|
Dundee |
|
Glasgow |
|
Inverclyde |
|
Clackmannanshire |
All EAC provision is free for eligible families. Families are eligible if they are in one of the six priority groups (other families fully pay for services with some of the providers). Project staff also have discretion to offer fully funded provision to others based on need. |
|---|---|
Dundee |
All EAC provision is free for eligible families. Families are eligible if they are in one of the six priority groups. Project staff also have discretion to include others based on need. |
Glasgow |
Tapered approach to funding:
Currently reviewing support for those in employment & receiving help with childcare costs from DWP. |
Inverclyde |
All EAC provision is free for eligible families. Families are eligible if they are in one of the six priority groups or have a household income of less than £26,000 (including benefits). |
Clackmannanshire |
Clackmannanshire Sport and Leisure and schools send information about their service to all families in the area. Family Support Workers in schools/other partners (e.g. employability), also refer eligible families. Providers shared information about the offer with eligible families who were already paying for services. |
|---|---|
Dundee |
The EAC offer is communicated with families through their school and has received some referrals, including via Child Poverty Pathfinder. |
Glasgow |
The EAC offer is mainly communicated to families by childcare providers (where families were already using their services). Schools and Pathfinder colleagues also share information about the service, and it is promoted through an internal digital platform. |
Inverclyde |
The EAC offer is mainly communicated to families through schools and by the childcare provider. |
Clackmannanshire |
239 children in 165 families |
|---|---|
Dundee |
97 children in 76 families |
Glasgow |
136 children in 112 families |
Inverclyde |
42 children in 33 families |
Clackmannanshire |
Family Wellbeing Partnership – the EAC is one of its four work strands and is known locally as the Child Wellbeing Partnership. The strands are: Safeguarding Through Rapid Intervention (STRIVE), Child Wellbeing Partnership (CWP or EAC), Community Around the School, and Employability. |
|---|---|
Dundee |
Child Poverty Pathfinder – keyworkers engage with families to identify their needs and connect them with support services |
Glasgow |
Pathfinder 'no wrong door' approach where families can access a range of support services through a telephone helpline or online. Partners can refer eligible families to the EAC for childcare support and the EAC can direct families to the Pathfinder. |
Inverclyde |
Holiday clubs at two sites in the local authority had also been provided through the Access to Childcare Fund in 2020/21. These holiday clubs were offered to parents in employment, training or learning and living on a low income. |
What are the key similarities and differences across EACs?
While there are some similarities between projects, there are also key differences that reflect local circumstances. This in line with the community-level focus of the EAC phase of the School Age Childcare Transformational Change Programme.
Similarities
Each EAC is located in a community with high levels of deprivation, and each project targets the six priority family groups at higher risk of experiencing child poverty. The EACs also all involve a wide range of local partners (existing and new), whether for providing childcare, family support, workforce development, promotion of the services, or wider advice on project delivery. These included schools, childcare providers, various local authority teams, welfare advice, early years, colleges and the training sector.
Differences
There is variation in the set-up and scale of the projects in terms of the number of childcare providers involved and families supported. For example, the Clackmannanshire and Glasgow projects include a larger number of childcare providers than Dundee and Inverclyde (see table 2.1) because there were more existing providers in those areas. In terms of families supported, Clackmannanshire supported the largest number of families, followed by Glasgow, Dundee and Inverclyde (see table 2.1). Notably, in Glasgow the EAC is operating within two different areas of the city rather than a single community like the other projects. Another difference in the set up of Inverclyde's EAC is that it is managed by the Local Authority 'Community Learning and Development, Community Safety & Resilience and Sport Team' which also leads on work to tackle child poverty in Inverclyde. This contrasts with the other EACS which sit within Education departments. Inverclyde's EAC is also governed by the Inverclyde Alliance Board through the Inverclyde Child Poverty Local Action Group.
Reach is also linked to how EACs chose to distribute their funding. Three of the projects (Dundee, Clackmannanshire, and Inverclyde) have fully funded provision for eligible families whereas Glasgow has taken a tapered approach. In Glasgow, the amount of funding available to families depends on their household income and whether they are in receipt of certain benefits. The rationale was that this approach would enable them to fund a larger number of families than they would have, had they fully funded a smaller number of places.
Another key variation is in family support provision. Examples of family support on offer across EACs and providers included: welfare advice, emergency grants, parenting advice, and employability support. While all projects have some form of family support, Dundee and Clackmannanshire have a more intensive offer. These projects directly target families with more challenges in their lives and parents who are further away from employment. In Dundee and Clackmannanshire, key workers employed by the EAC and Child Poverty Pathfinder (Dundee) work together to identify and respond to families' needs. There is also specialist support for families with a child with ASN. Clackmannanshire is also the only area to include community organisations (Community House Alloa and Hawkhill Community Centre) in their childcare offer, which support families with a range of needs, in addition to childcare. The Inverclyde and Glasgow EACs generally reached parents who were already employed (albeit low income employment), and their family support offer focuses more on a 'soft handover' referral pathway where project staff support and encourage families to access support from other organisations.
This variation in family support is linked to alignment with other initiatives. All projects align with other local initiatives designed to tackle child poverty. However, some links are more formalised than others. The Clackmannanshire project is integrated as one (of four) strands of the Clackmannanshire Family Wellbeing Partnership. The Dundee and Glasgow EACs have links to the Pathfinders in their areas but there is less joint oversight. In Inverclyde, existing initiatives are not on the same scale as the Family Wellbeing Partnership or Child Poverty Pathfinders, but the project has had input from partners (e.g. other local authority teams, third sector, and further education) already working to address child poverty in the area.
Contact
Email: socialresearch@gov.scot
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