This book reviews the history of policies pertaining to child health and well-being which preceded and set the stage for Sure Start. It provides insight into how SSLPs were expected to function and how they actually operated, both in terms of their strengths, weaknesses and costs. It also demonstrates their impact on children, families and communities, shedding light on the variation in impact and the causes for it. With a foreword from Naomi Eisenstadt, former Director of the Sure Start Programme and concluding chapter by Professor Sir Michael Rutter, member of the government's scientific advisory board overseeing NESS, this book provides an insightful critique of SSLP policy and NESS that will be of interest to students of child development, families and communities, as well as policymakers and policy scholars, local and national providers of services to children and families and evaluation specialists.

Table of Contents

Foreword ~ Naomi Eisdenstadt; Part one: The historical and policy context: The policy background to Sure Start ~ Edward Melhuish and Sir David Hall; Part two: The local context of Sure Start Local Programmes: Targeting deprived areas: the nature of the Sure Start Local Programme neighbourhoods ~ Jacqueline Barnes; The challenge of profiling communities ~ Martin Frost and Gillian Harper; Part three: The implementation of Sure Start Local Programmes: The methodologies for the evaluation of complex interventions: an ongoing debate ~ Pamela Meadows; Sure Start Local Programmes: an overview of the implementation task ~ Jane Tunstill and Debra Allnock; Living with Sure Start: human experience of an intervention programme ~ Angela Anning and Mog Ball; Costs and benefits of Sure Start Local Programmes ~ Pamela Meadows; Part four: The impact of Sure Start Local Programmes: Impact on Sure Start Local Programmes on children and families ~ Edward Melhuish; Programme variation and impact on children and families ~ Edward Melhuish, Jay Belsky, Mog Ball and Angela Anning; How Sure Start Local Programme areas changed ~ Jacqueline Barnes; Conclusion: an outsider's perspective ~ Sir Michael Rutter.

About the Author

Jay Belsky is Director of the Institute of for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues and Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck University of London; he is Research Director of NESS.Jacqueline Barnes is Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck with special interest in families and communities; she directed two of the five core research components of NESS.Edward Melhuish is Professor of Human Development at Birkbeck with special interests in early child care and early intervention; he is Executive Director of NESS.

Reviews

"This complex and comprehensive evaluation is written with admirable skill and diplomacy. For those of us in health, education and social care, it focuses on raising the profile of preventive action in the early years." Mitch Blair, River Island Paediatric and Child Health Academic Centre, Imperial College