Commissioned services

Children’s Centres
From the very early days of the Sure Start programme 4Children has envisaged Children’s Centres as multi-purpose community partnership hubs providing the key point of contact and coordination between local families and the full range of providers in the area. We remain committed to this vision and, through our own Children’s Centres, we are leading the way in making this a reality for thousands of families across the country.

4Children’s community partnership model for Children’s Centre provision aims to create localised, inclusive service hubs that will empower more families and communities to take the lead in decision making and service provision. With more families able to help themselves and those around them, resources can be concentrated on supporting those most in need and on narrowing the gap in outcomes at the local level.

Childcare
In addition to Sure Start Children’s Centres, 4Children provides high quality childcare and early years support though a growing network of nurseries, crèches and out of school clubs. We work in many different communities, from rural villages to inner city neighbourhoods, to provide a full range of flexible and competitively priced childcare options. We always work with local families to ensure our services reflect the needs and characteristics of the communities we serve.

We have an excellent track record in turning low occupancy settings into high quality, sustainable facilities and in establishing new facilities from the ground up.

In recent Ofsted reports we have been praised for the quality and commitment of our staff, our ability to meet the needs of children and families, and for developing successful partnerships with parents and stakeholders.

Young people
4Children has long advocated an integrated 0-19 approach to the provision of services for children and young people. Our Children’s Centres have demonstrated that such services can be effectively co-located and ‘co-produced’ to ensure that children and young people are able to access support whenever they need it, throughout the 0-19 age range, without losing contact with service providers at key points of transition or development in their lives.

4Children is known for its innovative and inclusive approaches to working with young people from campaigns and participation programmes such as Make Space and Knowsley Young People’s Commission to developing local resource hubs such as MyPlace and our new national project for the RAF to develop activities for young people living on RAF bases all over the country.

Family interventions
We know that it can be daunting to try to access support from lots of different people and organisations, this is why we advocate holistic, integrated service delivery. 4Children believes that local service providers should work together to address the challenges faced by families today. By placing families firmly at the centre of local delivery partnerships – through inclusive governance structures – we enable them to have a much greater stake in shaping their own lives. We work with families from pre-birth through to late teens and early adulthood, providing a full continuum of care for all family members at key moments in their lives.

Our new Family Turnaround programme builds on the principle of early intervention and represents a real step forward in holistic support, reducing the need for more intensive and costlier interventions at moments of crisis. Family Turnaround provides value for commissioners and improved life chances for families.