AMID cuts to statutory services, churches are well placed to function early responders to families in need, “before thresholds are met, before trust is broken, and before families reach breaking point”, a recent report says.
The report, More than Sundays, was produced by the Children and Families Alliance, comprising three Christian charities working with vulnerable children and families: Safe Families and Home for Good (Features, 27 March 2023); Transforming Lives for Good (News, 27 August 2021); and Kids Matter (Features, 27 September 2019).
It describes the present landscape for early intervention. Local-authority spending on this fell by 46 per cent in real terms between 2010-11 and 2021-22, in line with a study by Pro Bono Economics. In contrast, spending on “late intervention”, corresponding to youth justice and kids in care rose by 47 per cent over the identical period, making up four-fifths of spending on children’s services.
“This shift is just not just fiscal,” the report says. “It reflects a fundamental transformation in how the system operates . . . locking councils right into a reactive mode that responds just once harm has occurred.”
There are currently 83,630 children within the care system in England: a 23-per-cent increase since 2014. The Department for Education reports that almost one child in five is just not meeting expected development milestones by the tip of college reception 12 months.
The charities that make up the Alliance provide parenting support, including parenting programmes, and practical help to families in need. More than Sundays estimates that, through a network of nearly 7000 volunteers, they’ve supported the lives of greater than 33,000 children and greater than 12,000 families, while “inspiring and equipping” greater than 1800 recent carers.
It calls on the Government to prioritise investment in early-intervention models delivered through community organisations, including churches, and to establish a cross-departmental working group to explore how partnerships between local authorities and faith-based organisations may be expanded and evaluated.
“Churches usually are not statutory agencies and that’s precisely their strength,” it says. “Church-based support and interventions are uniquely relational, accessible, and stigma-free. They meet families where they’re, very often literally. In village halls, lunch clubs, toddler groups, coffee mornings, mentoring sessions, and residential visits, church volunteers offer early support that feels informal, secure, and human. In this manner, churches act as early responders, noticing the problems, responding to the missed, and providing help long before statutory services are triggered.”
A strength of the Church is its “vast network of committed volunteers”, the report says. “While there’ll inevitably be some roles in the kids’s social care sector that require salaried staff, there are lots of opportunities where trained volunteers may be deployed effectively around children and families who’re in need.”
The three charities report that families who’re struggling “often reveal higher levels of trust and willingness to have interaction with volunteers fairly than employees of statutory services. . . For many families, a mistrust of statutory officials can stem from feeling that individuals are ‘paid to be there’ whereas with volunteers, families are sometimes encouraged by an individual’s willingness to offer of their very own time, energy and focus, knowing that they usually are not being financially paid in return.”
Church-based groups usually are not a substitute for statutory provision, but a “vital complement”, it says. “Their deep local presence, relational trust, and low-barrier access make them uniquely placed to succeed in families before problems escalate. In short, they’re already a part of the early help infrastructure. What’s missing is consistent recognition and resourcing.”
