Belsky, Jay and Barnes, Jacqueline and Melhuish, Edward (2007) The National Evaluation of Sure Start: does area-based early intervention work? Bristol, UK: The Policy Press. ISBN 9781861349507.
Abstract
Book synopsis: Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) were a major strategic effort by New Labour towards ending child poverty. By changing the way services were delivered to children under four and their families, through targeting and empowering highly deprived small geographic areas, SSLPs were intended to enhance child, family, and community functioning. Following five years of systemic research exploring the efficacy and impact of this grand experiment, this book pulls together the results of the extensive National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS). It reviews the history of policies pertaining to child health and well being that preceded and set the stage for Sure Start. The book provides insight into how SSLPs were expected to function and how they actually operated, both in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and their costs. The contributors: examine the nature of the communities in which these programmes were situated and how they changed over time; present the early effects of SSLPs on children and families, with evidence highlighting some small beneficial effects and some small deleterious ones; and extract specific features of SSLPs that contributed to whether individual programmes benefited children and families, providing a guide for the revision of programmes and policies. With a foreword from Naomi Eisdenstadt, former Director of the Sure Start Programme, and a concluding chapter by Prof. Sir Michael Rutter, member of the government's scientific advisory board overseeing NESS, the book provides a critique of SSLP policy and NESS.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Sarah Hall |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Sep 2019 10:59 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:54 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/28985 |
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