Early Years Collaborative
The Early Years Collaborative (EYC) was launched by the Scottish Government in October 2012 with the support of NHS Scotland, COSLA and the Police Service of Scotland. It is a multi-agency, local, quality improvement programme delivered on a national scale focusing on the national outcome, our children have the best start in life and are ready to succeed.
The EYC shares the commitments of the Early Years Framework which was published in December 2008 and signified an important milestone in encouraging partnership working to deliver a shared commitment to giving children the best start in life and to improving the life chances of children, young people and families at risk. The EYC shares this commitment.
The ambition of the EYC is to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up in by working with communities to improve outcomes, and reduce inequalities, for all babies, children, mothers, fathers and families across Scotland to ensure that all children have the best start in life and are ready to succeed.
It has three Stretch Aims:
- To ensure that women experience positive pregnancies which result in the birth of more healthy babies as evidenced by a reduction of 15% in the rates of stillbirths (from 4.9 per 1,000 births in 2010 to 4.3 per 1,000 births in 2015) and infant mortality (from 3.7 per 1,000 live births in 2010 to 3.1 per 1,000 live births in 2015).
- To ensure that 85% of all children within each Community Planning Partnership have reached all of the expected developmental milestones at the time of the child’s 27-30 month child health review, by end-2016.
- To ensure that 90% of all children within each Community Planning Partnership have reached all of the expected developmental milestones at the time the child starts primary school, by end-2017.
The EYC is centred on three work streams:
- Workstream 1 - pre-birth to one month
- Workstream 2 - one month to three years, and
- Workstream 3 - three to five years.
The EYC has the potential to make a huge difference to the lives of children across the country.
To ensure success, we must think big and test changes on a small scale to see what works before rolling out programs. We must also think creatively about how we plan and deliver services, how we work together with the community and partners and how we prioritise resources because at stake is nothing less than the future health and happiness of our children and of our nation.
What’s happening in East Lothian and Midlothian?
It was agreed that there should be one local EYC that covered East Lothian and Midlothian Community Planning Partnerships. Already, many innovative ideas have been generated by the workstreams and tested across East Lothian and Midlothian. With a principle of ‘think big, start small, scale fast’, we are moving quickly, using the model of improvement, recording tests of change and measuring the progress that is being made.
Our current tests of change – June 2013
Workstream 1
- Using the ‘Signs of Safety’ approach to engage better with parents and families at initial child protection case conferences
- Improve identification of substance using pregnant women
- Assess the impact upon homelessness pregnant women or children under 1 where the tenancy is not within their area of choice
Workstream 2
- Improving the referral pathway for vulnerable children
- Welfare rights and early years services
- ‘Tots and Teens’ – child care education and training for teenagers
Workstream 3
Big Bed time read – various settings across the two council areas
Family journey story
- Heighten police awareness to improve referrals on calls to domestic violence where there are children and/or pregnant women
- Mental health assessments for looked after children in kinship care
- Mapping services for families.