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Gaynor Wingham looks at research into child care for rural families with special needs and those from ethnic minorities.

A research project by Suffolk Acre (Action for Communities in Rural England) is part of a countrywide project to look at how child care is viewed by ethnic minority communities, and families with children with special needs.

These groups had been identified as not using child care to the same degree as the general population. The research confirms that there is a low take-up of child care in these groups and provides some explanations and recommendations.

Suffolk Acre, through its Child Care for All project, is contracted to help deliver and sustain child care throughout Suffolk. It works with communities to promote communal self-help. It currently supports over 150 different child care providers across the

county. The research was conducted in the Ipswich area, Felixstowe, Woodbridge and Saxmundham and used questionnaires, interviews and anecdotal evidence to test the validity of perceptions of low take-up of child care by the groups.

The research found that there is a low take-up of child care among parents and carers from ethnic minorities. The child care favoured by this group was largely informal with friends and family. Reasons for the low take-up included financial and historical factors. Families also feel more comfortable leaving their child with someone who reflected their “mirror image, culture or immediate environment”. Researchers found there are few workers from minority backgrounds in child care. The ethnic minority population in Suffolk is small at about 2.2 per cent, although this figure increases to 6.5 per cent in some areas, such as south east Ipswich. Child care is seen as “a white service to a white clientele”. Only 23 per cent of those with child care needs use formal systems.

Many parents from ethnic minority groups want to pursue further study or training, but are unsure how to find out about existing services. They are unsupported from mainstream sources such as careers services and colleges and have difficulties with application forms.

Parents of children with special needs said that there was a lack of information on available child care services. They also wanted greater co-ordination and integration of services. Isolation was a common theme. Three-quarters said there were insufficient child care facilities for children with special needs.

Both sets of findings found that once out of “mainstream” needs, feelings of isolation, lack of confidence (both personal and in child care itself), confused messages, lack of full information and that inclusion was not the easy route that it should be, were widespread.

The research provides a range of recommendations, including the creation of mentors in careers, child care and employment to support families, and a “one stop shop” for information. It also suggests developing a working partnership between heath and social care services and community groups.

Rural communities have particular problems in the provision of child care with relatively low and widespread populations, and transport issues. This research is important in raising child care inclusion in a rural rather than an urban setting. It gives a clear message to rural communities that they need to focus positively on inclusion of all groups within the community.

Social care workers need to work together with the provider groups and challenge assumptions of how child care is delivered in their area. The research finds “no evidence in the existing provision of exclusion or discrimination”. It may be helpful to include parents from ethnic minority groups and those with children with special needs when planning and delivering services and challenging assumptions further.

- Challenging Inclusion. Childcare: The Way Forward is available from Suffolk Acre, Suffolk House, 2 Wharfdale Road, Ipswich IP1 4IP, tel: 01473 242500. See www.suffolkacre.org.uk

Gaynor Wingham is director of the Professional Independents Consultancy.