Centre For Excellence And Outcomes In Children And Young People's Services Publishes Scoping Studies For The Early Years Theme

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 18 Nov 2008 - 2:00 PST

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Today, the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services (C4EO) published its first three scoping studies for its first theme, Early Years.

The publication of the scoping studies is the first part of the process by which C4EO will create a knowledge bank of 'what works' evidence for each of its six themes. The scoping studies assess the nature and strength of the evidence base and to provide an initial overview of trends in the literature. The knowledge bank will contain data, research evidence and validated local practice which has been shown to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families. It will be accessible through online interactive 'progress maps' on the C4EO website from January 2009.

For each theme there are three priorities which focus on improving specific outcomes. The Early Years Theme priorities focus on providing 'what works' evidence that has been shown to:

1.1 improve development outcomes for children through effective practice in integrating early years services

1.2 improve children's attainment through a better quality of family-based support for early learning

1.3 narrow the gap in outcomes for children from the most excluded families through inclusive practice in early years settings Christine Davies, Director of C4EO, said: "Today is an important day for C4EO as it marks the first step in the delivery of our first theme, Early Years. The three scoping studies have considered over 550 publications, demonstrating the rigorous methodology we are following to develop a 'what works' knowledge bank which will give professionals working in early years the very best, reliable information."

1. The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services (C4EO) was launched on 10 July 2008 at the Manchester conference of the Association of Directors of Children Services. The Centre will identify and coordinate local, regional and national evidence of 'what works', to create a single and comprehensive picture of effective practice in delivering children's services. Using this information, C4EO will offer support to local authorities and their Children's Trust partners, working with them to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families. The Centre will focus its work on six national themes identified in Every Child Matters. These are: Early Years; Disability; Vulnerable Children (particularly children in care); Parents, Carers and Families; Youth; and Schools and Communities. The Centre is also conducting two other pieces of work:

a. Primary disability research into two areas: the effectiveness and costs of different modes of delivering behaviour management interventions to parents of disabled children; and the effectiveness and costs of early identification and intervention for sleep problems.

b. A cross-cutting review on child poverty in the spring of 2009.

C4EO is working with a consortium of core partners: National Children's Bureau, National Foundation for Educational Research, Research in Practice and the Social Care Institute for Excellence. The Centre is also supported by a number of strategic partners, including the Improvement and Development Agency, the Family & Parenting Institute, the National Youth Agency and the Institute of Education. There will be close and ongoing cooperation with the Children's Services Network, Association of Directors of Children's Services, the Local Government Association, the NHS Confederation, the Society of Chief Executives, Ofsted and the regional Government Offices. C4EO is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). For more information on C4EO please visit

http://www.C4EO.org.uk

2. Scoping reviews are available on C4EO website http://www.c4eo.org.uk/themes/earlyyears/index.asp

3. Christine Davies CBE has most recently been Programme Director for the LGA and DCSF 'Narrowing the Gap' (in children's outcomes) programme, which identifies leading practice in improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people. Before this, Christine was a highly experienced Director of Children's Services for Telford and Wrekin Council. Under her leadership, the Council was recognised as an exemplar in delivering integrated children's services and was the only Authority to receive two Beacon Awards, for 'Integrating Children's Services' and 'Early Intervention' (Children at Risk). Christine has held many national roles, over the last 10 years, including President of the Association of Chief Education Officers and Adviser to the Local Government Association.

She currently sits on the Partnership for Schools Board, the DCSF Improving Intelligence Steering Group and the National Stakeholder Board for Children and Families.

http://www.C4EO.org.uk