Can society afford not to fix ‘broken families’?

The riots were a wake up call for many. Broken families were to blame for much of it, according to the prime minister. Psychologists say, to prevent future broken families, the government must intervene in family life much earlier, when children are babies, or even in the womb. But is the public purse willing to stump up the cash?

Today the NSPCC released figures that illustrate the size of the problem. The charity says every year in Britain 198,000 babies under one are at risk of abuse and neglect. It’s the first real estimate of the numbers of babies affected by parental problems of substance misuse, mental illness and domestic violence.

Violence against children peaks in the under-one age group. Nearly half of all the serious cases of abuse and neglect are babies.

The NSPCC says 109,000 babies are born every year to parents with drug or alcohol problems, and 144,000 are born each year to parents with mental health problems.

This is the most important issue affecting society. Prof Peter Fonaghy

They are calling for early intervention. Andrew Flanagan, the NSPCC Chief Executive told Channel 4 News: “Not enough focus from children’s services go into the very youngest children. We believe that a lot of services try to deal with the symptoms and the effects of problems that started many, many years before.”

Professor Peter Fonagy FBA, a psychologist at UCL and The Anna Freud Centre put it more simply: “This is the most important issue affecting society. Because of how the brain develops, it is easiest and most cost-effective to intervene early.”

Children who have not been nurtured and cared for as babies typically manifest problems later. Their brains develop differently and that has an impact on everything from their mental health to socialisation and how they relate to others, and even to whether they are violent as they mature.

‘Lives transformed’

Channel 4 News has followed four children who have experienced early intervention.

Kayden is seven months old. His mother was in care as a child and homeless when she was pregnant, so he was deemed potentially vulnerable. Even before he was born, a nurse from the Family Nurse Partnership began working with his 19-year old mother, Kim and Kayden is thriving.

Keira and Alicia are the children of a couple who have struggled with drug problems for years. The couple’s four siblings were taken into care last year. But they are back with their parents now. Keira and Alicia have benefitted from a nursery that specialises in therapeutic work with under-threes.

Riyan’s mother had post-natal depression. She even thought about killing them both soon after he was born. But she was referred to a specialist perinatal service for mothers and babies run by the North East London NHS Foundation Trust. Her specialist parent infant psychotherapist helped her understand why she felt as she did, and how to bond with her son.

“He’s the best thing that happened to this family,” she now says.

The cost of early intervention

The government has intervened early in the lives all four children, with a view to transforming their futures.

But it all costs money. It demands investment now, by already cash strapped councils and government, to reap the rewards in a generation’s time.

The Family Nurse Partnership is expanding – but still only reaches a few thousand families a year. Put that in the context of 198,000 children under the age of one who are at risk of abuse. The specialist psychotherapy Riyan’s mother received is very rare. And Keira and Alicia’s nursery has lost a fifth of its funding.

But research from the Scottish government estimates that up to £37,000 a year can be saved for each troubled child through early intervention. Can society afford not to do it?