Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund evaluation: final report

Early intervention and prevention

The CYPFEI & ALEC Fund helped sustain and improve the embedding of prevention and early intervention in the ethos of third sector organisations supported by the Fund. 

The third sector organisations reported that early intervention and prevention were integral to the organisations at the outset of the Fund and funding had helped them to maintain the focus in the face of a challenging operating environment, particularly financially. Many organisations highlighted that early intervention and prevention was “why we exist” or “what we do” adding that it had been a policy priority for a number of years. There was specific reference to the catalytic effect of the Christie Commission (2011) which advocated a preventative approach to reduce demand on public services and tackle inequalities. The survey of funded organisations reflected this situation with organisations highly rating, at both the outset of the Fund at the end of the third year’s funding, the importance of prevention and early intervention and the extent to which they were embedded in the delivery of organisations.

CYPFEI & ALEC funding enabled several organisations to develop new services or refine existing ones to enhance their early intervention and prevention work. For example, one organisation explained that they piloted a project that encouraged health visitors to ask young parents, particularly fathers, about their mental health and wellbeing and they reported this had resulted in young dads increasingly opening up to health visitors and getting the support they need before reaching crisis point. Another organisation explained that increasing demand for their counselling service had led them to develop additional support for parents at a “very early intervention stage” which in some cases prevented the need for counselling, in some cases reduced the number of subsequent counselling sessions or made the counselling more successful. 

Other organisations explained how the funding had impacted on their early intervention and prevention and a range of benefits were apparent:

“The CYPFEI Fund activity has enabled us to develop an early warning system highlighting the impact of social security changes on families in detail and to then support policy and service interventions that prevent poverty and income crisis amongst families”. (Third sector organisation).

“Through CYPFEI funding we have been able to develop and enhance a service specifically aimed at prevention and early intervention. Without this support, whilst our aims would have remained constant it is arguable as to whether we could have achieved some of the outcomes we have”. (Third sector organisation).

“The Fund has enabled us to focus on empowering disabled children, young people and their carers to influence preventative and early support approaches”. (Third sector organisation).

“This fund has helped us reach parents before a crisis arises as well as after a crisis. The early intervention and prevention comes from offering courses in local areas with no stigma attached and open to all. It means parents can come to build social networks, engage with services at a much earlier opportunity and learn new skill and techniques to offset any crisis. Early intervention can be at any stage of a family’s situation and we believe that by offering our programmes we are halting future challenges and breakdown of relationships. Parents are sometimes learning for the first time how to cope with challenges in a much more positive manner”. (Third sector organisation).

“We have been able to use our funding to raise awareness and reach more families before they reach crisis point”. (Third sector organisation).

“Our work has shifted from purely assisting people with legal problems to addressing the stress, lack of parenting skills and poor communication which often contribute to the problems that they face”. (Third sector organisation).

It was noteworthy that the benefits of CYPFEI & ALEC funding on early intervention and prevention were reported by intermediary organisations as well as those working directly with children, young people and families. Several intermediary organisations have been supported by the CYPFEI & ALEC Fund and some stated they had emphasised the importance of the early intervention and prevention agenda to members and provided targeted support to this end. 

“The grant has enabled us to support our local member organisations to ensure a prevention and early intervention approach is adopted at local community level”. (Third sector intermediary organisation).

“Early intervention and prevention is a core element of work in the early years, which is where our focus is. On a universal level, funding has allowed us to continue to support our members”. (Third sector intermediary organisation).