Better assessment of the cost effectiveness of early intervention is needed, argues a report from the National Foundation for Educational Research, Early Intervention: Informing Local Practice. The report finds that the case for investing in early intervention is widely accepted and supported but that there was a lack of UK-based evidence concerning its cost effectiveness:

Until recently, UK-based researchers and evaluators have rarely been asked to consider value for money when evaluating the processes and impacts of programmes. Increasingly, however, the landscape is changing, with researchers being asked to consider value for money when carrying out evaluations, and local practitioners, LA officers and commissioners being required to evidence the value of interventions, both on outcomes for children, young people and families and also on local and national assets.

The report also argues that local service providers needed the knowledge and skills to identify families in need in order to ‘signpost’ them to local services.

The full report, Early Intervention: Informing Local Practice, by Claire Easton and Geoff Gee, can be found on the National Foundation for Educational Research website.