Early Adopter Communities: process evaluation

Chapter 6. Conclusions

Delivery of services for families

Delivery of services for families was generally happening as intended, shaped by co-design activities. Broadly speaking, the provision met the needs of families who took part in this research and was considered accessible, affordable and good quality. This was facilitated by: funded places; local venues; timing that suited parents' working patterns; and staff who parents trusted to meet their children's needs.

However, staff reflected on challenges, in particular the recruitment and retention of staff and accommodating children with ASN. To mitigate this, EACs were involved in initiatives to develop the childcare workforce and there had been some successful partnership working to develop ASN support.

Attendance at EAC services had broadly been in line with expectations on which funding proposals were based. Staff cited trusting relationships as key to engaging families. At the same time, there is scope for extending reach to certain groups in some areas. For example, staff mentioned parents who were not working and minority ethnic families. Outreach strategies for these families is something that could be considered further.

Systems level delivery

EACs have also been working as intended at the systems level. Specifically, EACs had worked with partners to achieve buy-in and further develop partnerships. These partnerships laid the groundwork for early progress on other outcomes: integration of the system within the community (e.g. joint working to better support families and reduce duplication) and improved understanding of how to deliver high quality childcare and continued improvement of EAC policy (via knowledge sharing within and across EACs).

Successful systems-level implementation had been facilitated by the environment in which EACs were situated. Being in areas with existing child poverty initiatives meant EACs were not starting from scratch and could work with partners who were working towards a common goal. Governance arrangements, as well as the commitment from staff across EACs and partners, had ensured that EACs were well aligned with local initiatives and able to enact systems change. This had been particularly effective in Dundee, where there are several initiatives working closely in a very small local area.

Scaling up

There was agreement among EACs that the approach could be transferred to other areas. Perceived enablers of this included: direction and support from the local authority; applying learning from the EAC project; existing stakeholder relationships and fully integrating the provision into the local area. However, challenges to scaling up and determining feasibility of larger-scale provision include the need for ongoing financial investment, workforce and capacity issues in the childcare sector, and adhering to current regulation relating to staff ratios and venue suitability.