Ministerial Decision Report
Contingency Funding Request – Investment in initiatives that support vulnerable children (Family Support Workers and Baby Steps Universal antenatal programme)
Section 1: Introduction
The MTFP2, as adopted by the States Assembly, included the allocation of £1.65million per year from central contingencies for initiatives that support vulnerable children. (Full amount £4,950,000 profiled as £1.65 million per year over the three-year period from 2017 to 2019).
As set out in MTFP2, that allocation is to support delivery of initiatives that include outstanding recommendations from key reports (e.g.: Williamson, Care Inquiry and Serious Case Reviews), where it is anticipated that those initiatives may feature in the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry recommendations (IJCI). It is anticipated that the IJCI will now due to be published in April 2017.
Further to the decision of the States Assembly, the Council of Minister agreed on 9th November 2016, the release of a proportion of the allocated contingency monies to support the delivery of nine different initiatives. The cost of nine initiatives agreed by the Council of Minister does not represent the total contingency allocation (see Section 3 below).
The Council of Ministers also agreed to delegate to the Chief Minster the decision to request the Treasury and Resources Minister to release the remaining contingency allocation at some point in the future. Prior to making that request, the Chief Minister must have consulted with CAVA Ministers[1] about the initiatives to be funded from the remaining allocation.
In accordance with that decision, and having consulted with the CAVA Ministers, the Chief Minister is requesting that the Treasury and Resources Minister release part of the unallocated contingency monies for two additional initiatives, as set out below. It is proposed that a total of up to £896,150 will be drawn down as up to £223,600 2017, up to £300,000 in 2018 and up to £372,500 in 2019, but the amount for each year may be varied without exceeding the total amount for the three years.
Project name | Lead Department | 2017 costs | 2018 costs | 2019 costs | Total over MTFP2 period |
Family Support Workers | Education Department | Up to £153,600 | Up to £160,000 | Up to £160,000 | Up to £473,600 |
Baby Steps universal antenatal programme | Community and Constitutional Affairs Department | Up to £70,000 | Up to £140,000 | Up to £212,500 | £422,550 |
| Up to £223,600 | Up to £300,000 | Up to £372,500 | Up to £896,150 |
Section 2: Overview of two additional initiatives
Family Support Workers Initiative
Family Support Workers are a key component of Jersey’s early help approach. Early help is model of collaborative working whereby a range of practitioners from different agencies work together to assess and understand the strengths and needs of a child and their family and then provide a co-ordinated multi-agency response to those needs. The aim is to support families before their needs become so great or problems so entrenched that statutory services such as social workers have to become involved.
Those practitioners include professionals working in schools, in early years’ environments and health professionals such as Family Nursing and Home Care, Education Support Services, the Youth Service and the voluntary and Community Sector, e.g. Brighter Futures and the NSPCC.
As it currently stands, Jersey’s Early Help team, which supports assessment of need and builds a team around the child and family, has no capacity to provide consistent home based support (for example, working with the family in their home to build life management skills such as time management to attend health and dental appointments; cooking skills and knowledge of nutrient; budget management).
The contingency funding will allow for the recruitment of six dedicated family support workers to support individual children and their families, helping to build the capacity of those families to meet their own needs.
Baby Steps (universal antenatal programme)
Background
Babies under one are particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect. One third of serious case reviews in England relate to babies under the age of 1 year (Brandon et al, 2012). In England and Wales, babies are seven times more likely to be killed than older children (ONS, 2015). In Jersey the Safeguarding Partnership Board annual report found that in 2015 34% of children placed on the child protection register were under 4 years old. Abuse has life-long impacts, and early adversity can cast a long shadow. Recent neurological and psychological research highlights more clearly than ever before how critical pregnancy and the first years are to a baby's development. They provide the essential foundations for all future learning, behaviour and health.
There is, however, promising evidence that antenatal education that focuses on the transition to parenthood, on the relationship between partners and on the development of a positive parent-infant relationship can improve parent and child outcomes. The promotion of secure attachment and reflective functioning can play an important role in prevention of abuse and neglect.
The implementation of a universal antenatal programme is, therefore, a key component of the 1001 Critical Days manifesto. The aim being to ensure that all parents are able to access antennal classes which address both the physical and emotional aspects of parenthood, and the baby’s well-being and health social and emotional development.
Programme development in Jersey
In Jersey, the current antenatal provision tends to focus on the medical aspects of childbirth, and can therefore fail to prepare parents for their new role in caring and supporting their baby when they go home after the birth.
The NSPCC is currently operating in Jersey and delivering a targeted Baby Steps programme. The programme which is based on Department of Health’s Preparation for Birth and Beyond framework and also incorporates other evidence about risk and protective factors in the perinatal period, aims to
- improve outcomes for parents and their babies and generate substantial savings later on
- promote informed choices and resilience before conception to create the conditions for families to thrive.
The current NSPCC Baby Steps programme is however targeted to a limited number of families; it is not universal provision. The contingency funding will be used to develop on the NSPCC target programme in order that, by the beginning of 2019, will be universally available to all expectant and new parents. This will be achieved through the provision of training and development of staff in relation to programme delivery and the collection of data for evaluation purposes. The staff will be based at Family Nursing and Home Care - in order to maximize the benefit of learning and partnership with MESCH plus liaison with Samares Pathways - but will deliver the universal baby steps programme in different community settings.
Section 3: Financial implications
The MTFP2, as adopted by the States Assembly, included the allocation of £1.65million per year from central contingencies for initiatives that support vulnerable children (£1.65million per year totals £4,950,000 over the period from 2017 to 2019).
In accordance with the Council of Ministers’ decision on 9 November 2016, a total of up to £2,260,650 was allocated for nine different projects over the three-year period (see Table 1 below)
Table 1: Projects agreed on 9 November 2016
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Total over three-year period |
Projects agreed by COM on 9 November | £723,850 | £768,400 | £768,400 | £2,260,650 |
Total MTFP allocation over three year period | £4,950,000 |
Remaining allocation from central contingencies | £2,689,350 |
The Chief Minister is now requesting that the Treasury and Resources Minister agrees to release at total up to £896,150 from the remaining £2,689,350 allocation in central contingencies on receipt of budget transfer requests from the Minister for Education and the Home Affairs Minister (see table 2 below).
Table 2: Two additional initiatives.
Project name | Budget transfer from central contingency to revenue head of expenditure to department | Total budget transfer over MTFP2 period | 2017 draw down | 2018 draw down | 2019 draw down |
Family Support Workers | Education Department | Up to £473,600 | Up to £153,600 | Up to £160,000 | Up to £160,000 |
Baby Steps programme | Community and Constitutional Affairs Department | Up to £422,550 | Up to £70,000 | Up to £140,000 | Up to £212,500 |
Total allocation over MTFP2 period | Up to £896,150 | up to £223,600 | up to £300,000 | up to £372,500 |
Table 3: Monies remaining in MTFP2 allocation
Budget transfers approved/requested to date | Total draw down over MTFP2 period |
Projects agreed by COM on 9 November | Up to £2,260,650 |
Family Support workers and Baby Steps Programme | Up to £896,150 |
Total allocation over MTFP 2 | £4,950,000 |
Remaining unallocated monies | Up to £1,793,200 |
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