In an initial study, based on the Common Outcomes Framework, we have found benefits across all five we assessed in: Engaged, Learning & Play, Safe, Happy & Positive Relationships, and Healthy.
This work was a collaborative project with Home-Start Hillingdon. We worked together to produce a new methodology and analysis to better understand the outcomes for children who have received our support.
To read the full study, follow this link
What is Home-Start support?
Our Home-Start service works by meeting parents and carers (referred to from now on as parents) where they are and setting goals with them for what they would like to achieve with our support. Our volunteers support families once a week, for up to around 6 months (9 months if support begins pre-birth). Support is delivered in family homes, in local parks and at community centres, all settings where we can most effectively help a family achieve their goals. Parents are in control of the service we receive, in terms of its focus and how support is delivered, from start to finish. It is their strength and determination, combined with the dedication of our volunteers, that enables us to deliver such brilliant outcomes for children.
Who does Home-Start Lambeth support?
We acknowledge that parenting can be really challenging, even in the best of circumstances. When combined with these additional factors, which are known to increase the risk of poor outcomes for children, it is easy for parents to feel overwhelmed. This is where our volunteers come in, providing consistent weekly support to help parents reach their goals for themselves and, crucially, for their children.
Child outcomes study
Our study looked at key developmental areas for children under five. The areas we evaluated are critical for early physical, cognitive, and social development such as opportunities to socialise, access to healthcare, and engagement with learning and play. Our approach reflects well-established evidence on supporting early childhood development.
The sample group for this study was small, but the findings are exciting.
On average, children improved their overall scores by 22%, with positive growth seen across all categories of the study. All children, across all demographics and circumstances, experienced positive developmental outcomes following Home-Start support.
Engaged – 63% average score improvement
This domain considers children’s access to outdoor play and opportunities to meet and socialise with children and adults outside of their family.
Home-Start volunteers worked with families to reduce their isolation. As a result, children had more opportunities to engage with their communities.
It is unsurprising to us that Engaged is our service’s principal strength. At the start of our support many families are isolated and rarely leave their homes. Much of our volunteer support is focused on building parents’ confidence and establishing routines around leaving the house. By building parental confidence and connections with other services and within their communities, we simultaneously build children’s confidence and connections. Our support helps children to explore, socialise and interact with their community.
Learning & Play – 29% average score improvement
This area considers the variety of activities children have access to, including opportunities for child-led play, ‘serve and return’ communication, and access to developmentally appropriate books, toys and activities.
Home-Start volunteers helped parents to develop new parenting strategies and adopt new ways of playing with their children, resulting in direct improvements for children.
The intimacy and consistency of our support is the primary driver of our achievements across the Learning and Play category. By building a close relationship with the family, understanding their routines and what makes them tick, our volunteers can
tailor support and role-model positive parenting in a way that makes sense for the circumstances and needs of each family. This role-modelling directly enhances the home learning environment: parents adopt positive play strategies that stimulate early brain development and support pro-social development and communication.
Safe (in the home) – 16% average score improvement
This domain considers the safety of the home-environment for children, including safe supervision, travel and how safe the home is from outside risks and harmful people. It also includes support to help resolve physical challenges in the home, particularly around critical housing hazards (such as mould, pests and faulty utilities).
Home-Start volunteers support families to advocate for themselves with their housing providers to address issues in their homes. They also provide support with organising homes for the arrival of their babies. By helping parents create safer physical environments, we mitigate critical housing risks and reduce parental stress. This helps to provide the stable, predictable foundation children require to feel safe, explore freely, and reach their vital physical development milestones.
This category was most affected by parental circumstances and stresses. Analysis of the data indicates that families affected by domestic abuse, perinatal depression, parental mental health challenges and disabilities tend to show slower improvements and lower final scores in the Safe category
Happy & Positive Relationships – 14% average score improvement
This area considers the healthy, secure attachment between a child and their parent, children feeling safe when seeking comfort and receiving regular positive attention and reinforcement of positive behaviours.
This area had a very high starting score, reducing room for improvement. However, we noted that improved relationships between children and their parents correlated closely with stabilisation of parental mental health. Our volunteers gave parents emotional support to help them rebuild their confidence and positive sense of self. As parents began to feel better, they had more bandwidth. This has a ripple effect, improving children’s emotional wellbeing and sense of secure attachment.
Healthy – 11% average score improvement
This area considers children’s healthy development, including a varied, healthy diet, appropriate clothing and a good standard of hygiene. It also includes access to health and education services, including specialist services where children have additional needs.
Again, this area had a very high starting score, reducing room for improvement. The families we support are normally well engaged with health services (53% of professionals referring families to our service work for the NHS). Our volunteers assisted with establishing good hygiene routines in the home alongside support with children’s holistic healthy development by assisting with securing education health and care plans (EHCP), and support
Conclusion
This initial study provides baseline data for Home-Start Lambeth, demonstrating clear, measurable progress across all five core domains of child development. Our evaluation will continue so that we can build a more robust, long-term picture of our impact. We are excited by these early insights, which not only validate the dedication and contribution of our volunteers but also highlight where structural inequalities, such as housing and systemic barriers, require a deeper focus.
Moving forward, we remain committed to actively embedding these findings into our practice and working alongside our partners to better understand and increase our impact for children across the borough.
To read the full study, follow this link