Targeting resources

Many elements of services to support early home learning are universal, such as health visiting, information about child development and local activities and facilities aimed at parents and young children.

Given that resources are limited, clear decisions about priorities for more intensive support and services are also necessary in order to target and engage high-risk families before children start to fall behind.

The research evidence that the occurrence of learning delay is found within similar types of families is important here and means that services can be guided by criteria of disadvantage rather than specific diagnosis of learning delay when making these decisions.

Key considerations

  • Build up a sound knowledge of the local community, through strategic multi-agency audits of local needs and involving parents in shaping services.
  • Identify geographical areas and families within these areas in which children are at high-risk of learning delay, based on key predictors of learning delay.
  • Target both geographical areas of disadvantage and vulnerable families within these areas.
  • Avoid creating stigma by labelling families living in disadvantaged areas as 'problem families'. This will require the tension between a universal and targeted approach to be sensitively managed.
  • Monitor uptake to establish whether or not services are successfully including vulnerable families.
  • Work in partnership with grassroots voluntary and community groups.

Also in this section

Last updated: 3rd December 2009 at 01:12:42