A plan to invest millions of pounds in providing brighter futures for all of Birmingham’s children is being put to city councillors to help improve the lives of children and young people in the area.
The move to transform services for children, young people and families is in anticipation of the future pressures resulting from Birmingham’s population profile already being the youngest of any major European city.
A new approach will focus on improving outcomes. It will see much greater investment in support for children at an early age and in preventative work to reduce the number of young people getting into trouble or developing more complex needs later on.
‘We want Birmingham to be the best place for children to grow up in.
‘That means thinking ahead and not being afraid of some radical changes,’ said City Council Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families, Les Lawrence.
A proposal to invest more than £40 million from the city council’s Business Transformation programme into re-designing children’s services follows the approval of a ‘Brighter Futures’ strategy earlier this year, which was developed by all the different agencies working with children in the City.
Planning had traditionally been based on information about children already in care or needing some form of support, but the new strategy has been based on what is believed to be the biggest ever survey of the wellbeing of all Birmingham youngsters and their families.
Health services, education, social care, youth justice, police and voluntary organisations have all had an input to agreeing the important outcomes. These include physical health, emotional health, behaviour, numeracy and literacy, social skills and preparation for adulthood.
‘If we can get these things right then our youngsters will achieve high standards in school which will prepare them for adult life,’ added Lawrence.
‘In some cases this will mean building on the excellent work that is already being done in the City; in other cases it will mean trying out solutions that we know have been successful elsewhere.’
Birmingham’s approach to the problem and solutions is expected to attract particular interest because of both the scale of multi-agency working including the UK’s largest children’s services directorate and the city’s population profile.
Already some 37 percent of the city’s population is under 25 years old and the average age is continuing to fall. The number of children and young people under 19 is expected to reach almost 300,000 within the next decade.
‘Particularly because of the scale of the challenges ahead we need to encourage more efficient use of resources,’ stated Lawrence, who added: ‘The idea is to invest heavily now in order to reduce demand for services later. That actually makes better sense all round.’
The Brighter Futures strategy means a shift towards prevention and early intervention rather than reacting to problems as they occur – usually at times of crisis.
It points out that reactive working is not only set to get progressively more expensive, even more importantly it is less successful in delivering the desired outcomes for the young people and their families.
The move to transform services for children, young people and families is in anticipation of the future pressures resulting from Birmingham’s population profile already being the youngest of any major European city.
A new approach will focus on improving outcomes. It will see much greater investment in support for children at an early age and in preventative work to reduce the number of young people getting into trouble or developing more complex needs later on.
‘We want Birmingham to be the best place for children to grow up in.
‘That means thinking ahead and not being afraid of some radical changes,’ said City Council Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families, Les Lawrence.
A proposal to invest more than £40 million from the city council’s Business Transformation programme into re-designing children’s services follows the approval of a ‘Brighter Futures’ strategy earlier this year, which was developed by all the different agencies working with children in the City.
Planning had traditionally been based on information about children already in care or needing some form of support, but the new strategy has been based on what is believed to be the biggest ever survey of the wellbeing of all Birmingham youngsters and their families.
Health services, education, social care, youth justice, police and voluntary organisations have all had an input to agreeing the important outcomes. These include physical health, emotional health, behaviour, numeracy and literacy, social skills and preparation for adulthood.
‘If we can get these things right then our youngsters will achieve high standards in school which will prepare them for adult life,’ added Lawrence.
‘In some cases this will mean building on the excellent work that is already being done in the City; in other cases it will mean trying out solutions that we know have been successful elsewhere.’
Birmingham’s approach to the problem and solutions is expected to attract particular interest because of both the scale of multi-agency working including the UK’s largest children’s services directorate and the city’s population profile.
Already some 37 percent of the city’s population is under 25 years old and the average age is continuing to fall. The number of children and young people under 19 is expected to reach almost 300,000 within the next decade.
‘Particularly because of the scale of the challenges ahead we need to encourage more efficient use of resources,’ stated Lawrence, who added: ‘The idea is to invest heavily now in order to reduce demand for services later. That actually makes better sense all round.’
The Brighter Futures strategy means a shift towards prevention and early intervention rather than reacting to problems as they occur – usually at times of crisis.
It points out that reactive working is not only set to get progressively more expensive, even more importantly it is less successful in delivering the desired outcomes for the young people and their families.
According to the business case being presented to councillors to unlock the funding, the planned £41.7 million investment is expected to deliver cash benefits up to a total of £73.4 million by reducing the need for more expensive services at a later date.
Another of the new initiatives, the ‘Incredible Years Programme’ will provide parenting support aimed at pre-school children at risk of developing severe behavioural problems.
This programme will make use of the new children’s centres, which bring together a whole range of previously separate agencies under the same roof and the Brighter Futures is one of nine transformation programmes which are projected to modernise the way the City Council works.
