CF was set up to prevent children and their families suffering the consequences of poverty and to develop services to ensure that children and young people at risk of social exclusion are identified early in life.
A critical part of the CF agenda is crime prevention activities, with up to a quarter of funding set aside specifically for services to support the prevention of crime. In addition, some local partnerships also incorporate an 'On Track' programme, which pilots approaches into and the impact of early intervention in the cases of those aged between 4 and 12 at risk of embarking on criminal activity.
The Government's long term vision is to integrate key services for children within the single organisational focus of a Children's Trust model. Most local authority areas have Trust arrangements in place, which all CF local programmes must be mainstreamed into by 2008.
Part of this process sees GOYH actively encouraging the learning from Children's Fund to be shared to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable children and their families are adequately addressed. This includes encouraging the development and commissioning of a breadth of services that reflect the successes of the Children's Fund in focussing on both targeted needs and universal provision.
In July 2007 the Government announced continued funding of preventative services through local authorities up to March 2011. In the Yorkshire & Humber region this equates to £47 million across all 15 authorities.
