The document discusses the expansion of preventative services and early intervention programs for children in the UK between 1997-2008. It highlights both ideological arguments around social justice and helping the disadvantaged, as well as evidence-based arguments from studies showing the benefits of early childhood investment. Specifically, it notes that early experiences shape cognitive development and that intervening early can improve life outcomes. The document also examines Labour's ideology around redistributing wealth and addressing child poverty, and questions whether preventative services should be pursued without conclusive evidence of their effectiveness.

1. The ‘Preventative
Services’ agenda
Nathan Loynes

2. Key Themes
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Social Justice
Anti-poverty Strategy
Non-stigmatised services
Infantile determinism and brain malleability
The USA influence of headstart
Proactive services including APIR (CAF)
assessments and ‘Outreach’
• Every Child Matters
• The Children’s Plan
• The recession and reducing taxpayer costs.

3. New Labour’s Ideology: (Ruth Levitas,
1998)
1. Redistribution of wealth to tackle poverty.
2. The moral underclass, impoverished values
caused by material social exclusion.
3. The need for social integration.
Refer to Gianna Knowles Chapter in your pack
on ‘Social Justice’ which is the arching term for
the above.

4. Why Early Intervention?
• “ Like it or not, the most important mental
and behavioural patterns, once established,
are difficult to change once children enter
school.” (Heckman & Wax, 2004).
• In other words, the Jesuit maxim: ““Give me a
child until he is seven and I will give you the
man”.

5. Financial Investment and return

6. Or put another way
(Schweinhart, Barnes & Weikart, 1993) Perry preschool evaluation)

7. Critical Period
• “There is a critical period’ which extends for at
least the first few years of life (Rose &
Chalmers, 1971, p. 247). During this critical
period aspects of cognitive functioning,
related to experience and symbolic
functioning can be enhanced.” (Source: Athey, 2007, p 32)

8. Human Capacity to Learn

9. What you take into school is what you
take out of school
“ If the race is already halfway
run even before children begin
school, then we clearly need to
examine what happens in the
earliest years.”
(Esping-Andersen, 2005)

10. Melhuish (2006)

11. Assessment (CAF) and ‘Early
Intervention’

12. Summary
• The expansion of services for children between 1997-2008 was
unprecedented. (ECM).
• There are ‘ideological’ arguments for helping the disadvantaged;
perhaps summed up by ‘social justice’.
• There are ‘evidence informed’ arguments for helping the
disadvantaged; perhaps summed up by ‘the Heckman curve’.
• Early intervention and preventative services require a more
sophisticated understanding and application of ‘children’s needs’
than perhaps envisaged by thresholds of s.17; s.47 of The Children
Act 1989.
• Sure Start/Children’s centres were a manifestation of Labour
ideology (Levitas, 1998)
• Evaluations of ‘preventative services’ (i.e. the effectiveness of
SureStart) are somewhat tenuous in the UK.
• Question: Should we pursue preventative agendas without
conclusive evidence of their effectiveness?