INTRODUCTION TO WAVE’S 70/30 STRATEGY

What is done to children they will do to society . Dr Karl Menninger 1893-1990.

Summary

We have developed a strategy for how we will drive and facilitate a 70% reduction in child abuse, neglect and domestic violence in the UK by 2030. We call this 70/30.

Through our research, we have identified the root causes of violence and also the most effective prevention and early intervention programmes that will address these. Finally, we promote the adoption of our recommended programmes at both national and local level.

If our recommended programmes are implemented, we predict that 70/30 can be achieved and that this will result in extensive cost savings in public spending. Our research also shows that our strategy will also help reduce alcoholism, drug abuse, mental health problems, teenage pregnancy and heart, lung and liver disease.

Read on to find out more about 70/30 or find out how you can get involved.

Background

Following the discovery in 1995 that conventional approaches had failed to make any significant impact on levels of child maltreatment during the preceding 50 years, WAVE Trust was created to reduce violence and child abuse by concentrating on a causal rather than symptom-centred approach. Our strategy has been to identify the root causes of these problems, then to find global best practice in addressing them and, finally, to promote adoption of that best practice at both national and local level.

A major milestone on our pathway was the publication in 2005 of the report Violence and what to do about it. This identified the first 3 years of life as crucial in the formation of violent personalities, and recommended strategies and specific interventions to give children the type of start in life that leads to pro- rather than anti-social behaviour later. It also identified the strong link between violence and early life abuse or neglect. Key findings in the report included that:

Approach to creating change

As an educational charity, we set about communicating our findings via reports, conferences and presentations to policy-makers, including senior civil servants, politicians and local authorities, as well as to police, other voluntary organisations and relevant professionals.

Achievements in changing thinking and policy

Today both Government and Opposition state they are committed to a strategy of early intervention. In September 2008 a joint Smith Institute / Centre for Social Justice policy booklet promoting early intervention, initially drafted by WAVE, and directed by former Conservative Leader, Iain Duncan Smith, and former Labour Whip, Graham Allen, received the written support of Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. The publication was later described by Frank Field as ‘the most important report, official or unofficial, produced in parliament since I became a member 30 years ago’. WAVE’s prime recommendation, the intensive American home visiting programme Nurse Family Partnership, was introduced into the UK and has now been rolled out to 30 pilot sites (benefiting 3,000 at risk families). Evaluation of the first year of the experiment has been very positive. In addition, our proposal for the creation of a pilot early intervention city has been taken up by the Home Office, with Nottingham selected as the pilot site for this experiment.

Gap between conviction and implementation

There have been numerous other successes, but the reality is that levels of child maltreatment do not appear to be reducing. While adoption of our ideas has been very successful at the strategic level, take-up is still minimal at the level where new policies need to be implemented – local authorities and primary care trusts.

The reasons for this are understandable: basically, the available funding is scarcely enough to cover essential reactive work let alone investing in prevention. Moreover, UK systems are almost universally designed to react to abuse and neglect, rather than to prevent them in the first place. However, recent research indicates that primary prevention (i.e. before abuse or neglect take place) is operationally and financially more cost-effective than responding after the initial damage has been done. In reality, we need to react effectively while we develop proactive, preventive systems. That will mean investing new money in primary prevention rather than seeking to compete for the already stretched funding for treating the symptoms.

70/30 commitment

Against the background of decades of ineffectual action to reduce child maltreatment, we feel that the 2+ million children who annually suffer severe abuse or neglect deserve more effective action than the current approaches that merely tinker around the edges. We have therefore created a business strategy whose aim over the coming decades is to create a radical reduction in levels of both violence and child maltreatment, with the initial focus on the latter because this seeds so much violence. (Here, our definition of maltreatment includes physical abuse, neglect and witnessing domestic violence.)

Our proposed approach is to set a radical but achievable goal of a 70% reduction in child maltreatment by the year 2030 – we call this the ‘70/30’ objective – and to create a coalition of supporters, spanning political parties, charities, professional experts and grass roots, with the intention of creating an unstoppable momentum demanding change. We recognise that there will be resistance, not least the argument that society cannot afford the costs of such an initiative. Our counter-argument is that society cannot afford not to make the necessary change. Our most recent research indicates that child maltreatment not only feeds into subsequent violent behaviour but is also a prime causal factor in mental health problems, poor physical health across a wide range of ailments, IQ, educational attainment and wealth generation. The economic case for the types of effective interventions we have identified is potentially overwhelming, and we recognise our responsibility to make that case.

Route to success

WAVE has created a Business Plan for the period 2009-2014 which sets out an overall strategy and detailed milestones for the next few years to be on track to deliver 70/30.

Early reactions to 70/30

The coalition in support of 70/30 has been joined by 4Children, Action for Children, the Association for Infant Mental Health, the Centre for Social Justice, the Children's Society, Kids Company, Parenting UK, the Smith Institute, Time for Families, 'What About the Children?' and the Young Foundation. The Vice-Chair of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect expressed strong support and invited WAVE to present the case for 70/30 to their tri-annual conference. Vivette Glover, Professor of Perinatal Psychobiology at Imperial College, was so enthusiastic she joined WAVE as a Trustee. Professor Kevin Browne of Nottingham University (a leading researcher on child abuse) joined the 70/30 commitment and offered to work in partnership with WAVE to create this shift. David Stone, Professor of Paediatric Epidemiology, at Glasgow University and John McLaren, an economist at Glasgow University who has worked on the economics of early prevention and intervention with the Nobel Prize winning economist James Heckman also volunteered their support. The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith and General the Lord Ramsbotham GCB CBE both agreed to join Baroness Walmsley as Patrons of WAVE, to express their backing for 70/30.

A small Advisory Council, which will address both how to achieve 70/30 in practice and how to win political support for the commitment, has been formed. Initial members are Naomi Eisenstadt CB, former national head of Sure Start and former head of the Social Exclusion Unit in the Cabinet Office; Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation and former head of policy for the Prime Minister; and Sir Paul Ennals, Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau.

A coalition of major funders backing 70/30 has been created. Initial members include the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Man Group Charitable Trust and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

For more information contact George Hosking at ghosking@wavetrust.org