Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy
Walsall Childrens Trust
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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• Child Poverty
• Why have a strategy to reduce child poverty?
• The Strategy
• The Action Plan
• What it will look like
• Effectiveness Evidence-based monitoring and
  evaluation

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• Why have a strategy to reduce child poverty?
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• Nearly 1/3 of children live in poverty (around
  16,000)
• Poorer health
• Lower attainment etc
• A Moral and economic imperative
• Council Pledge
• Cycle of deprivation
• Cost of services
• Government Target

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• Three facets-
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• Mitigate against the effects of Child Poverty
• Reduce parental worklessness
• Raise Aspirations

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• Mitigate the effects of Child Poverty
• Impact now
• Improve health and well-being
• Increasing tax credits and benefits
• Build seamless family support system

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• 2. Reduce parental worklessness
• Impact now
• Support parents into decent, sustainable jobs
• Recruitment targets
• City Strategy and Neighbourhood Skills Project
• Childcare and positive activity guarantee for
  0-19 yr olds

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• 3. Raise Aspirations
• Longer term impact
• Schools as drivers to narrow the gap in
  achievement

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• Action Plan
• Child Poverty reduction as an explicit service
  outcome
• Aligned and co-ordinated outcomes-based services
• Childrens Fund dedicated to Child Poverty
  strategy
• Commissioned services
• Focus on areas of greatest need
• Parents\Communities as experts

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• Evidence-based monitoring and evaluation
• Outcome measures in specification

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy
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Whats next

• Working with 2 localities (tba)
• Priority for Childrens fund for next 2 years
• Tender in November 2008
• 1.8 million bid to government at stage 2
• Coordinated approach across the borough

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• Mitigate against the effects of Child Poverty
• Reduce parental worklessness
• Raise Aspirations
• What lessons can be learned from practice
  elsewhere?

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• What are your observations about our
  collaborative approach to service delivery?

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Walsall Child Poverty Impact Reduction Strategy

• What are your perceptions about the effectiveness
  of locality focussing?