The Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) has published a new report claiming that families with young children are not receiving “joined-up” support from public services.
Getting it Right for Families: A Review of Integrated Systems and Promising Practice in Early Years gives practical advice for local areas together with examples of how services can be integrated throughout early years.
The EIF looked at “promising practice” in bringing together healthcare professionals, such as midwives, health visitors and GPs ,with early education providers.
Among the problems with health services sharing data highlighted are “fragmented commissioning” by various agencies and “a lack of shared understanding, language and vision across the early years workforce”.
Carey Oppenheim, chief executive of the EIF, said: “The early years are a key period in a child’s development. The fragmented way we organise services for children from conception to five means vital needs are missed and opportunities lost.
“By integrating services around the young child and the family we can provide the right level of expertise to the right families at the right time.”
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