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<p>The government has funded the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) since 2013, including
providing almost £2 million of funding in 2018-20, to assess, evaluate and disseminate
evidence of what works. The EIF has assessed the benefits of a wide range of specific
early intervention programmes and suggested that, whilst producing robust estimates
is challenging, there is a compelling argument that intervening early is likely to
bring economic benefits to society. In particular, the EIF has highlighted that the
long-term economic benefits are considerable where early intervention leads to labour
market gains, such as improvements in employment and earnings. However, the EIF is
clear that this is not a quick fix and is unlikely to reduce pressure on the social
care system in the short term.</p><p>The value of early intervention is reflected
in the statutory guidance “Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)”, which is
clear that providing early help is more effective in promoting children’s welfare
than reacting later and that it plays an important part in supporting children and
young people to achieve better outcomes. The guidance is clear that local areas should
have a comprehensive range of effective, evidence-based services in place to address
assessed needs early. It is right that local authorities are free to decide how to
use their children’s social care budget to manage local priorities and deliver the
best services for children.</p><p>The government has also committed £920 million to
the Troubled Families Programme, an early intervention approach which aims to achieve
significant and sustained improvement for families in difficult circumstances.</p><p>
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