New good-practice guidance for Sure Start Children's Centres was launched alongside the five reports into Sure Start's effectiveness in an attempt to address the concerns raised in the evaluation of the programme.
The guidance offers advice on how to reach the most alienated groups in the community through outreach and home visiting and gives information on monitoring and record-keeping.
The guidance says that families using the services should experience support that 'evidence shows' will make a difference to children's outcomes - rather than offering activities that may be valuable 'solely for the contact they enable between parents and practitioners'.
The Government said in the guidance that it is 'determined to see the challenges highlighted' by the evalution addressed, and that it is developing a 'performance management framework' to ensure that the guidance is implemented.
The framework will be used to monitor the performance of local authorities and children's centres in meeting local needs. It will focus on the quality of practice as well as indicators that highlight the progress of children against the Every Child Matters outcomes. Further details will be issued in national guidance next spring.
Professor Edward Melhuish, head of the evaluation study, said that he is 'moderately hopeful' that the guidance will help improve services.
He said, 'It has taken account of the research evidence in a way that the previous guidance on Sure Start Local Programmes in 1999/2000 did not. It's much more specific and explains how services should be delivered, where we want to be and how to get there.'
The evaluation showed variations in performance between different local programmes. It also showed that programmes led by health agencies exerted better outcomes than the other programmes.
Professor Melhuish said that health services needed to be 'fully integrated' in the transformation of SSLPs to children's centres. 'It has not yet been made clear how health agencies are going to be involved in children's centres. But this needs to be worked out.'