Hopefully the children’s green paper will join up the work of statutory and voluntary agencies serving children in our often overlooked rural communities, writes Ian Vallender.
The proposals that will soon be set out in a green paper provide the best opportunity for this government yet to address the needs of children and young people at risk.
But if these proposals are about "ensuring that we prevent children and young people from dropping out of education, committing crime, and suffering from family conflict and ill-health" (Paul Boateng, 30 October 2002) then policies must take account of the needs of those in rural communities as well as cities.
The original focus of the green paper was on the identification, referral and tracking (IRT) of children at risk and the provision of mainstream and specialist services to them. Reaching children and young people who live in rural areas will require more commitment, time and energy than reaching those who live in towns. IRT will eventually, it is hoped, help to co-ordinate the spectrum of services. Joining up services for children up to the age of 18 who are dispersed and isolated, will not be achieved quickly.
One of the barriers to helping those at risk living in remote or dispersed communities is lack of access - not just to the services themselves, but to information about sources of help, advice and support. This includes information about health services, educational and training opportunities, and leisure opportunities.
Low levels of service use do not necessarily reflect low level of need. Sure Start schemes in rural areas are beginning to find unmet need - especially in the area of mental health - and are developing strategies to support families. These innovative programmes can provide indicators of the challenges encountered and the creative means employed to meet recognised needs of children and their families.
The direct costs of providing health care in rural areas are higher than elsewhere because of the need for mobile and outreach services. Strategies to meet the physical and mental health needs of children and young people should also address the issue of cross-boundary service delivery.
For those at risk of antisocial behaviour, the causes may include the lack of recreational and leisure facilities, and perhaps the lack of a police presence. The report by the Countryside Agency and NCH1 highlights the availability of a wide range of drugs in some rural areas, and suggests that "it raises the question of whether young people living in rural areas are more vulnerable than their urban counterparts to drug and alcohol misuse because of the lack of alternative pursuits and opportunities."
In Cambridgeshire, for example, more young people (27 per cent) in rural areas than in urban ones (18 per cent) use drugs.2
The partnership work involved in delivering co-ordinated services, involving children, young people, parents and community leaders, is a serious challenge, and the engagement of the voluntary and community sector, especially those serving ethnic minority groups, can bring further complications. We hope that the Treasury’s Future Builders fund, and the Home Office’s voluntary capacity building initiative will help the voluntary sector engage as more equal partners with statutory agencies to deliver effective public services to all children and their families, including those in rural areas.
Providing the green paper keeps its focus firmly on children, and is based on evidence of what works then it should provide a sound basis for agencies to work together to improve services for children at risk.
1 Annie Mullins, Jacqui McCluskey and Julie-Taylor Browne, Challenging the Rural Idyll, 2001
2 Cambridge Health Authority Health Improvement Plan, 2001
Ian Vallender is director, policy and information, at the National Council for Voluntary Childcare Organisations.