Early Intervention – Because Childhood Can’t Wait

A young child’s brain is like a little sponge, soaking in their experiences of the world around them. During their early years of life, their brain is hard at work, building a platform for learning, behaviour and health. In these critical years, if a baby or toddler is under stress, it can affect their brain development and lead to lifelong problems. Stresses could include:

• Inadequate physical care. Such as poor nutrition, and inadequate clothing and shelter due to child poverty.
• Negative well-being. For example, due to living in an abusive environment.
• A lack of love and attention. Some children experience neglect, and not all children receive praise or have positive relationships with their caregivers.
• Poor access to play and growth. Such as not having the opportunity to play, experience the outside world or socialise with other children.

In Hot Water

There are many stresses that can affect children and lots of reasons why they occur. Some stresses are toxic, and the reasons are obvious (e.g. a parent is abusive). Other stresses are subtle and often unavoidable. These stresses affect a parent or family, which then filters down to the child.

Life can be very difficult, unfair and cruel. Often families find themselves in difficulty through no fault of their own. For example, serious illness, disability, mental health issues, and grief from the loss of a loved one can strike any family. Issues such as these can cause parents to struggle to cope. Furthermore, multiple problems can occur at the same time, overwhelming families. When parents can’t cope, children can be affected.

Parents do their best to shield their children from the problems they face. However, this is simply not always possible. Putting on a brave face for their child and pushing forward, although admirable, isn’t always enough.

In The Deep End

The first 1,000 days from pregnancy to age two are crucial for child development. At the best of times, being pregnant is a daunting experience. When a life-changing event happens, pregnancy can become one of many challenges. This is the case for many families, struggling to keep their heads above water for both themselves and their children.

“I never thought that I would ever find myself in a refuge and pregnant. It was such a dark time. I was moved away from friends and family and felt incredibly isolated. When I had my little girl, it was just all so overwhelming… I adored my little girl, I was just exhausted and incredibly lonely.”

Sink Or Swim

In today’s society in Britain, many parents feel judged. Our culture is one that idealises parenthood and promotes opinion (and the judgement that comes with it). There’s almost a stigma that everyone should take to parenting like a duck to water. Life, in general, is often glamorised. It is easy to forget that life is not easy for the vast majority. We likely don’t realise that many others are in the same boat and feel the same. Keeping our problems our own, and carrying on is the norm. Because we feel we are different (even ashamed), many of us choose to sink or swim rather than ask for help and risk making waves.

Drifting Apart

In the past, extended families usually lived in the same area and communities were closely connected. Support with problems, including parenting was close by. Today, it’s not uncommon for people to not even know the names of their neighbours. Day-to-day, our lives are busy, and our attention is demanded more than ever. Close, honest friendships can be difficult to find and harder still to maintain when we have children. These are just some of the reasons why many parents become isolated and have no one to turn to or ask for help.

Spilling Over

Problems left untreated can become larger, more complex, and lead to more problems. An issue that could have been lessened, resolved or prevented from growing, now needs support from the state. These public services, although necessary, are expensive to society. The Early Intervention Foundation has estimated that the cost of late intervention when children and young people experience difficulties in England and Wales is around £17 billion per year. Moreover, when problems become larger, more complex and entrenched, intervention is less likely to be as effective. Pouring in resources to only late intervention is an unsustainable long-term strategy.

Many of the serious problems children and young people experience originate in early life. Addressing the causes of problems when they first appear helps reduce the number of families who will later need costly statutory services. What’s more, it helps parents as well as children and the family as a whole.

By intervening early, the benefits are far-reaching, greatly improving the lives of families but also having a knock-on effect on the wider public. Early intervention is a proactive and sustainable approach.

Keeping Families Afloat

A child’s future hangs on giving them the best start in life. Life is not fair, but all our children need a childhood with adequate physical care, positive well-being, love and attention, and access to play and growth. We must protect childhood swiftly because childhood can’t wait.

Providing timely support to local parents of young children when they need help is the best way to see a Bedfordshire where every child has a safe and happy childhood. Through early intervention, we can empower parents of young children with support, knowledge and resources to improve their future.

Since 1984, Home-Start Bedfordshire’s volunteers and supporters from the community have been helping local families in crisis. Our programmes work to give babies and children the best start in life. Parental, maternal and child health is improved through visiting the family at home, and through a variety of other projects and resources. These skills will last a lifetime, helping families, not just with their early years but through all childhood developmental milestones.

The impact of such programmes is measurable:

• 95% of families who have received Home-Start support said that their children’s emotional and physical health and well-being had improved.
• 94% of parents said that they felt that their emotional health had improved, their self-esteem had improved, and they felt less isolated.
• 91% of parents said their physical health had improved.
• Research has shown that children who have received Home-Start’s help have a better start in life than those who do not. It likewise shows that those children are still benefitting three years after their Home-Start volunteer has stopped visiting.

* Researchers compared three groups of parents who needed support. In one group, each family had Home-Start support. In two control groups, there was no volunteer support.