The study, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research for the DCSF, looked at different outreach strategies used by local authorities and children's centres in a pilot scheme to encourage disadvantaged families to access free childcare for two-year-olds.
It found that a personalised one-to-one approach knocking on doors in disadvantaged areas was most successful in reaching families not in contact with services.
Writing to eligible parents first and following up with several home visits was also found to build a relationship of trust.
When outreach workers approached parents on the street, the report said, 'on occasions they faced hostility from parents about why they were being singled out, or about why they were being asked personal questions, for example about family income and benefit status'.
Outreach workers also made judgments about which families to stop based on their appearance, such as 'the less well dressed or those coming out of "budget" supermarkets being viewed as more likely to be eligible'.
The report said this could lead to an inconsistent approach because it was based on outreach workers' own personal judgment of families' circumstances.
It said there needs to be a clear and effective referral process to identify eligible families.
Further information:
Pilot scheme for two-year-old children - evaluation of outreach approaches is at www.dcsf.gov.uk/research.