Early Years

Paper aimed at all professionals who may, during the course of their work, provide advice to parents and carers in relation to maternal and infant nutrition. It aims to highlight the key updates which were made to six universal resources produced by NHS Health Scotland during routine reviews in 2012.

Designed to guide health professionals through the national information resources available to support effective communication with parents and improve maternal and child health outcomes.

It covers pre-conception, pregnancy, infancy, toddler and the pre-school period up to the age of 5 years. It also signposts to related services and resources to support parents and carers.

Guidance to facilitate the implementation of an effective 27-30 month review for all children in Scotland. It is primarily aimed at front line health staff involved in delivery of the review, in particular Public Health Nurses - Health Visitors (PHN-HVs), and their managers.

It is also of wider interest to general practitioners and colleagues involved in early learning and childcare and the wider care and support of young children.

Guidance that is supplementary to, and should be read in conjunction with the Scottish Government 'National guidance for child protection in Scotland 2010'. The guidance outlines key definitions and concepts, specifically a definition of what constitutes child abuse and neglect and harm/significant harm.

The Children and Young People Bill will be introduced to Parliament in 2013 and will set out fundamental reforms to the way services for children and young people are designed, delivered and reviewed.

The Scottish Government conducted a large-scale series of national engagement events to discuss the proposals for reforms with a wide range of stakeholders. In addition, it published a consultation document on 4 July 2012 which invited views on key areas of proposed reform: children’s rights; early learning and childcare; getting it right for every child; and the care system.

Evaluation of the Triple P parenting program.

The Aberlour Glasgow Bridges service started work with families affected by parental substance misuse in June 2008 in the Possilpark area of North East Glasgow. The aim of the service was to develop and deliver interventions with parents, carers and children to improve children’s educational, health and well-being outcomes. This resource is the full report into research undertaken to review and evaluate Glasgow Bridges.

Midlothian Sure Start, established in 2001, is a voluntary organisation with an aim to give very young children (from pre-birth to 11 years) the best possible start. A range of services are provided through six centres and on an outreach basis within the semi-rural community. This resources provides an overview of the work of the organisation and includes several case studies and details of an evaluation carried out in 2004.

The report reviews evidence about early intervention and the approaches, policies and programmes which help give children aged 0-3 the social and emotional bedrock they need to reach their full potential.

The purpose of this briefing is to:

- provide an overview of national infant mental health policy since devolution
- consider whether agreed objectives have been achieved, and identify gaps
- present NSPCC Scotland’s views about what more needs to be done to meet the needs of infants at risk.