Family support and the early years centre: a case study of parent views

Pithouse, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7971-0595 and Holland, Sally ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7600-3855 1999. Family support and the early years centre: a case study of parent views. Child Care in Practice 5 (2) , pp. 140-150. 10.1080/13575279908413166

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Abstract

Few people would dispute the benefits of early intervention to relieve family stress and promote the needs of children. However, the use of compensatory schemes in pre-school and nursery settings has been the subject of some heated debate over whether such mechanisms effectively tackle disadvantaged or dysfunctional families (see Jary and Jary, 1991; Woodhead and McGrath, 1988:15). Nonetheless there remains strong support for the view that programmes in early childhood can help offset an abusive or neglectful family life through the provision of a consistent and supportive environment and thereby help children in need (Broadhurst et al, 1979; Cannan and Warren, 1997; Durkin, 1986; Maher, 1989; Mirandy, 1976; Pugh, 1994). Similarly, the educational needs of children who are 'looked after' by local authorities have become a topic of some concern provoking fresh thinking about the education / social work interface (see Blyth and Milner, 1997). Such issues inform the current debate over the appropriate distribution of resources and strategy in respect of child and family support services and child protection. The gaze of policy makers and academics has widened in a search for ways to balance these difficult to assimilate objectives. Within this search there has been growing interest in early years services provided by local authorities in order to see if this might offer additional or alternative family support. Such preventive services might allow social services departments greater realignment towards more protection work and other interventions with those families where risk of severe emotional or physical harm has come to light. Such a scenario may not be unlikely given local authority budget limitations, legal and procedural obligations and anxiety over media interest in child abuse and statutory social work (see Parton, 1997, pp. 18-20). We hope therefore that the following case study of an early years centre will make a modest addition to the current debate over children in need and the role of early years provision, particularly in respect of parent experiences and perceptions. We re-iterate the point that this is a case study involving a small number of families and so the usual caveats about reliability and generalisation are declared at the outset.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	1357-5279
Last Modified:	10 Feb 2025 15:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/175521

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