Getting in early
Last week saw the publication of Graham Allen’s second report, Early Intervention: Smart Investment, Massive Savings. Although it focuses on interventions for children and young people, many of its themes and recommendations are highly relevant to adults with multiple needs.
For many people in the revolving doors group, problems in their lives stem from traumatic childhoods. Too often the bottom two images on the cover of Allen’s report – drink and drug abuse, poor mental health, shorter life – are more accurate than those at the top.
The first theme of the report is the need for a culture shift from “expensive and largely ineffective later intervention to highly effective and inexpensive” early intervention. The arguments for this refocusing of funds and attention are strong. Increased investment in support for disadvantaged children and families is vital to minimise the revolving doors group of the future.
However, intervention at this early stage is not a complete solution. The sad truth is that however many great Early Intervention services there are, some people will always fall through the gaps. And not everyone develops problems early. One member of our Service User Forum had a stable life, job a car, until he suffered a double bereavement and everything fell apart.
So while I support Allen’s recommendation that “government, when planning the next Comprehensive Spending Review, should consider making Early Intervention its theme”, this should not mean that early interventions for adults are neglected. Providing support when things are just starting to go wrong rather than waiting until a crisis point has been reached just makes sense – for the individual but also for services that otherwise pick up the pieces; police, A&E, prisons.
Allen also writes about the need for “strong leadership, planning and co-ordination”, “accessible, coherent and supportive” support from government and a role for the Social Justice Cabinet Committee in providing a “general sense of direction”. This topic has been on my mind recently as I have been working to develop a Vision Paper with Making Every Adult Matter.
The issue of people with multiple problems living chaotic lives has grown in recognition in recent years (e.g. Social Exclusion Task Force, PSA 16, the Prime Minister’s commitment to help troubled families who have multiple problems). However, a clear government statement recognising of support for the specific issue from central still eludes us. Our Vision Paper aims to change this.
We are launching the Vision Paper at a parliamentary reception in September, where we hope to have both Government and opposition speakers. This feels like an important step towards achieving the cross party support that is vital to moving this agenda forward.
