Evidence-based Early Years Intervention

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (2018). Evidence-based Early Years Intervention. London: House of Commons.

Early intervention is a loosely-defined term that refers to taking action as soon as possible, to tackle problems before they become more difficult to reverse. In this Report, we consider early intervention in relation to childhood adversity and trauma, to tackle the potential long-term problems that children who had such experiences appear to be more likely to encounter. Such intervention can take a variety of forms and covers an array of different sectors including education, health, social care and justice. Examples include parenting programmes, behavioural classes for children or programmes supporting early years child development.

As part of this inquiry, we launched a call for evidence seeking written submissions regarding evidence-based early years intervention on 26 October 2017. We received over 100 pieces of written evidence, and took oral evidence from 26 witnesses, including academics, charities, organisations delivering early intervention programmes, local authorities, the Early Intervention Foundation, Public Health England and Government Ministers. We also visited Cornwall Council and Tretherras School in Newquay, and the Blackpool Centre for Early Child Development to learn more about the HeadStart Kernow and Better Start Blackpool programmes respectively. To assist us in our work, we also appointed Dr Caroline White, Head of the Children and Parents Service in Manchester, as a Specialist Adviser for our inquiry. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to our inquiry.

Read the Report (PDF)