Does your Best Start needs assessment tell you what you need to do differently?

We have created a new free resource: 10 questions to ask about your Best Start needs assessment.

Designed for local authorities and their partners, the short practical guide is intended to help local areas reflect on whether their understanding of need is genuinely shaping their Best Start offer – from where and how support is delivered to who is being reached and who may be missing.

Download the free resource: 10 questions to ask about your Best Start needs assessment here

_{A good needs assessment should change decisions}

Understanding local need sits at the heart of developing an effective Best Start offer. But there is a risk that a needs assessment becomes an exercise in bringing together the data that is available, rather than really understanding what babies, children, young people and families need – and what that means for the way support is designed and delivered.

Population data matters. It can tell us a great deal about outcomes, inequalities, deprivation and the prevalence of different needs. But it does not tell us the whole story. A strong understanding of local need also means looking at differences between neighbourhoods and communities; understanding who is and is not accessing support; listening to families; drawing on the knowledge of the workforce and partners; and understanding the assets that already exist within communities.

And then comes perhaps the most important question: What are we doing differently because of what we have learned?

_{Look beyond who is already using services}

Registrations, referrals, attendances and service-use data provide important information about reach. But they also tell us who is engaging with the offer that currently exists.

One of the most useful questions may therefore be: Who aren't we seeing?

If particular communities, fathers, families affected by poverty, families with SEND or other groups are under-represented, that does not necessarily mean there is less need. It may tell us something about awareness, trust, stigma, language, transport, opening hours, digital access, previous experiences of services – or whether the current offer feels relevant and accessible. Looking at need and reach together can provide some of the most important insight.

_{Listen beyond the data}

Families can tell us what it actually feels like to find and access support, where the gaps are, what gets in the way and which people and places they trust. But it is equally important to hear from families who are not currently using Family Hubs and other services.

The workforce and wider partnership also hold valuable intelligence. Health, early years, schools, voluntary, community and faith organisations and other services may see patterns, pressures and gaps that are not yet apparent in formal datasets.

No single organisation holds the whole picture.

_{Understand your assets as well as your gaps}

Understanding local need should not start from the assumption that every identified need requires a new service. Communities already contain a wealth of support, relationships and resources. Schools, early years settings, health services, voluntary and community organisations, faith groups, peer networks and community venues may already be known and trusted by families.

So alongside asking “What is missing?”, it is worth asking “What is already here – and how well are we connecting it into our Best Start offer?” Sometimes the answer will be to develop something new. Sometimes it will be to connect, strengthen or make better use of what already exists.

_{The real test is what happens next}

A good needs assessment should influence decisions.

• If need is concentrated in particular neighbourhoods, does that affect where support and outreach are focused?
• If some families are less likely to access the current offer, are we understanding why and changing how we engage with them?
• If families identify barriers around opening times, transport, language, confidence or stigma, does that influence how support is delivered?
• If trusted community organisations are already reaching families effectively, are they recognised and involved as part of the wider Best Start system?

Understanding local need is not simply about creating a better description of the local population. It should help local partnerships make better choices about what they do next.

_{What's included in the free resource?}

Our 10 questions to ask about your Best Start needs assessment explore:

• neighbourhood and community-level need;
• inequalities and outcomes;
• reach and who may be missing;
• barriers to access;
• family and community voice;
• workforce and partner intelligence;
• community assets;
• whether the current Best Start offer reflects identified need; and
• most importantly, what decisions have changed as a result.

Download the free resource here

_{How Interface can help}

Interface works with local authorities and their partners to turn policy into practice.

We can support local areas to understand need and use that understanding to shape their Best Start offer, including needs assessments and analysis, family and stakeholder engagement, partner workshops, service and system evaluation, implementation support, and workforce and leadership development.

Contact us to discuss how we can support your Best Start work