Early intervention will make Scotland a world leader says charity

Another depressing article has appeared in the Scotsman supporting the Named Person scheme. It comes from Jackie Brock, head of Children in Scotland, whose vision is that Scotland will become a world leader in securing the wellbeing of every child and improving the quality of every childhood. Personally, I find all this talk about `world leadership` more than embarrassing.

This lofty aim is to be achieved by the Named Person service and it could not be more absurd.

Today, we understand so much more about developmental milestones in children’s early years and the importance of responding as early as possible to address problems. Getting it Right for Every Child, the framework in which the Named Person service sits, has its foundations in prevention and early intervention

They understand so much more, she says, and yet would write off babies and toddlers as future failures, even before their lives have properly begun. It is eugenics in a different form. That is not the sort of world leadership that the world actually needs, I would suggest.

Evidence suggests that what appears to contribute most to poor outcomes for children is if their families face multiple vulnerabilities in combination, such as unemployment, poor housing, mental and physical health problems, low income and material deprivation. This is where our systems need to be geared towards prevention and early intervention based on excellent risk assessment to identify families with these vulnerabilities early and work to support them.

There`s no mention that the answer lies in providing good jobs and appropriate housing which could wipe out most of the other problems at a stroke. No, these issues must be seen as vulnerabilities and risk indicators and an excuse for early state interference.

It`s a myopic vision, and so is this:

I too have argued, and will continue to argue, that there is no evidence of increased state intrusion into family life.

There is plenty of evidence. How about the evidence from the Improvement Service.

"The Message Exchange Hub (MXH) will act as a bridge between national systems, such as SEEMiS and NHS systems, and local ones to allow partner organisations to transfer GIRFEC-related messages securely and automatically."

"The introduction of new duties under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act in 2016 is expected to lead to a significant increase in the volume and complexity of GIRFEC-related messages. This will make any manual support processes increasingly difficult to define, agree and manage."

http://www.improvementservice.org.uk/girfec-secure-messaging-prototype-calls-upon-myaccount-expertise.html

For more spin and lies, read the full Brock article, link below.

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/family/jackie-brock-no-evidence-named-person-scheme-intrusive-1-4006795