Scottish Government: New approaches to eradicating child poverty

Wrap-around support delivering improved outcomes for families

Lessons learned from innovative work with families in Inverclyde are helping deliver new approaches to eradicating child poverty. 

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville will visit Home-Start Renfrewshire and Inverclyde in Greenock today (Wednesday 29^th January) to see work funded under the Scottish Government’s Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund, which is helping to reshape services locally and elsewhere in Scotland. 

The Social Justice Secretary will meet staff at the project as well as parents who have benefited from the work which focuses on providing early intervention to support families, particularly those with children under five and those affected by poor mental health.  

Learning from the project is supporting Inverclyde’s Fairer Futures Partnership, which is supporting local services to test and improve how they deliver services to promote family wellbeing, maximise incomes and support people towards education and into sustained employment.   

Ms Somerville said: “Eradicating child poverty is the Scottish Government’s top priority and a national mission.   

“I’m keen to hear more about how whole family, person-centred support is being developed in Inverclyde through the Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund and the Fairer Futures Partnership. 

“Through close partnership between Home-Start and Inverclyde Council, this project provides holistic support so that families can maximise their household incomes, and parents can improve their employment prospects through upskilling and volunteering. Putting this kind of vital support in place means that we don’t just help families in a  crisis but enable them to thrive in the longer term. 

“The Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund was set up to support local areas to test new ideas and innovate to improve local approaches to eradicating child poverty. I’m pleased to  have the opportunity to learn more about how this funding is informing Inverclyde’s overall approach to supporting families out of poverty.”