A fund to trial new ways of combating child poverty has opened for a second round of applications.
The Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund (CPAF) will provide up to £80,000 per grant towards local projects that test and evaluate new approaches which target at least one of the three drivers of child poverty reduction: improving income from employment, supporting people with the cost of living, and increasing awareness and uptake of social security benefits.
Applications can be submitted by local authorities and health boards, who may choose to work with other groups and organisations in the community.
Eradicating child poverty is @ScotGov’s top priority, and our policies are estimated to keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year.
Ahead of a Scottish Parliament debate on eradicating child poverty, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Eradicating child poverty is a central mission for the Scottish Government and we must find new and innovative ways to achieve this.
“Measures such as the Scottish Child Payment are estimated to keep 100,000 children in Scotland out of relative poverty this year, but we are determined to go further. The Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund will support projects that target the root causes of child poverty and create lasting change in our communities.
“Local authorities and health boards are already undertaking transformative work to tackle child poverty and this fund will support them to go further and share best practice, to help make child poverty a thing of the past.”
An initiative which will support low income families to take part in community action and advise on improvements in local services is being funded as part of a wider programme to help develop new approaches to child poverty.
The project, led by Midlothian Sure Start in partnership with Midlothian Council, is one of nine successful applicants to the Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund – which was set up to explore promising approaches or redesign services to maximise their impact on child poverty.
A Cash First Fund, which aims to reduce the need for emergency food parcels and food banks, will also fund eight partnerships to provide help to low income families. Six of these will provide new sources of cash-first support.
This morning Social Justice Secretary @S_A_Somerville announced two new funds to deliver cash first support for people in need, and develop new approaches to tackling child poverty.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said yesterday: “These two funds exemplify the innovative approach the Scottish Government is taking to tackling poverty and delivering for the people of Scotland.
“The Midlothian partnership will give local families the opportunity to get involved in and influence local services. It will aim to identify improvements which will ensure help on offer is joined-up and people are supported in a dignified way to reduce stigma.
“Other projects will help to accelerate progress in tackling poverty, including by making it easier for people to access cash in a crisis and by connecting people with advice to prevent future hardship.
“We are investing £3 billion this financial year to tackle poverty and protect people from the cost of living crisis. We are taking all the action we can to support people within our limited powers and fixed budget.”
Cash First Fund: successful proposals
Area
Lead partner
Aberdeen
Aberdeen Voluntary Action (TSI)
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire Council
Edinburgh
Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership
Fife
Fife Council
Glasgow
Glasgow Centre for Population Health
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire Council
Orkney
Voluntary Action Orkney (TSI)
West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire Council
Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund: successful proposals
Area
Project
Aberdeen City
Data driven identification of households experiencing child poverty to inform and direct intervention and support.
Argyll and Bute
Evaluating the usefulness of third-party datasets for identifying communities in need of financial support.
Edinburgh
Income Maximisation Outreach
Inverclyde
Parent Centred Early and Intensive Intervention – supporting parents with children and babies under 5 years
Midlothian
Midlothian Peer Research – A Case for Change through a Place Based Approach Building Skills and Influencing
Moray
Improved identification of families affected by disability and delivery of support to maximise income
North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire Single Shared Assessment (NASSA)
Perth & Kinross
Beyond Emergency Support to Sustainable Livelihoods – Capacity Building Programme for Local Communities
South Lanarkshire
Paths out of Poverty’ – empowering parent/carers of disabled children through innovative, holistic, strengths-based approach.
