Evaluation of the Child Maintenance Options Service

Aim We wanted to establish whether the Child Maintenance Options Service telephone helpline increased the likelihood of separated parents making arrangements for child maintenance. What is the Child Maintenance Options Service? Definitions of child maintenance vary, for this study it was defined as financial support that helps towards a child’s everyday living costs when the parents have separated. The Child Maintenance Options Service offers information and support to help parents make decisions about their child maintenance arrangements. Findings Overall, parents were positive about the helpfulness of the service. While positive results were achieved after just one or two short telephone calls, the service was most effective for those who had more in-depth and personalised contact with the service. Maintenance arrangements Around 7% of parents, referred by the Jobcentre Plus, who had more in-depth interaction with the service later made maintenance arrangements that they would not otherwise have had. Parents who were more recently separated and where there was regular contact between the non-resident parent and the child and between parents, were more likely to have a maintenance arrangement in place eight to nine months after contact with the service. There was some evidence that the service helps to ensure that maintenance is working. Over two-fifths of parents who had some contact with the service did not have a maintenance arrangement eight to nine months later. Methodology We conducted a telephone survey of a random sample of helpline users, between February and September 2009. A total of 2,767 parents participated in two research interviews: an initial ‘baseline’ and an ‘outcomes’ interview around six to nine months later. We worked with freelancer Eleanor Ireland on this project

Monitoring and evaluation of family interventions: information on families supported to March 2010 (Research report DFE-RR044)

"This report updates and builds on the previous research by presenting and analysing FIIS [Family intervention Information system] data provided by family intervention staff up to and including 31 March 2010. The report is primarily based on simple descriptive statistics which provide a summary of the quantitative evidence. In addition statistical modelling (logistic regression) was used to look at the factors associated with successful and unsuccessful outcomes." - Page 14

Monitoring and evaluation of family interventions (Information on families supported to March 2010) RR044

Josie Dixon, Vera Schneider, Cheryl Lloyd, Alice Reeves, Clarissa White, Wojtek Tomaszewski, Rosie Green and Eleanor Irelan

Childcare and early years survey 2007: parents’ use, views and experiences

The evidence suggests overall that the Ten Year Childcare Strategy has not had as much impact as intended, particularly in relation to the most disadvantaged children. Nevertheless, policy plans such as the extension of the free entitlement and the roll out of the Extended Schools programme are likely to contribute to a higher take-up of childcare by families. This report only provides an initial update on parents’ views and experiences of childcare and early years provision. The survey includes a wealth of data and there is a great deal more to explore through secondary analysis as well as qualitative research to better understand the complexity of the decisions parents face

Outside-in?:Acute fetal systemic inflammation in very preterm chronically catheterized sheep fetuses is not driven by cells in the fetal blood

Background The preterm birth syndrome (delivery before 37 weeks gestation) is a major contributor to the global burden of perinatal morbidity and death. The cause of preterm birth is complex, multifactorial, and likely dependent, at least in part, on the gestational age of the fetus. Intrauterine infection is frequent in preterm deliveries that occur at <32 weeks gestation; understanding how the fetus responds to proinflammatory insult will be an important step towards early preterm birth prevention. However, animal studies of infection and inflammation in prematurity commonly use older fetuses that possess comparatively mature immune systems. Objective Aiming to characterize acute fetal responses to microbial agonist at a clinically relevant gestation, we used 92-day-old fetuses (62% of term) to develop a chronically catheterized sheep model of very preterm pregnancy. We hypothesized that any acute fetal systemic inflammatory responses would be driven by signaling from the tissues exposed to Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide that is introduced into the amniotic fluid. Study Design Eighteen ewes that were carrying a single fetus at 92 days of gestation had recovery surgery to place fetal tracheal, jugular, and intraamniotic catheters. Animals were recovered for 24 hours before being administered either intraamniotic E coli lipopolysaccharide (n = 9) or sterile saline solution (n = 9). Samples were collected for 48 hours before euthanasia and necroscopy. Fetal inflammatory responses were characterized by microarray analysis, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Intraamniotic lipopolysaccharide reached the distal trachea within 2 hours. Lipopolysaccharide increased tracheal fluid interleukin-8 within 2 hours and generated a robust inflammatory response that was characterized by interleukin-6 signaling pathway activation and up-regulation of cell proliferation but no increases in inflammatory mediator expression in cord blood RNA. Conclusions In very preterm sheep fetuses, lipopolysaccharide stimulates inflammation in the fetal lung and fetal skin and stimulates a systemic inflammatory response that is not generated by fetal blood cells. These data argue for amniotic fluid-exposed tissues that play a key role in driving acute fetal and intrauterine inflammatory responses