Question: Can’t we just wait until a child “breaks” to “fix it”?

It's usually very difficult for us to justify spending money on prevention. It's a lot easier for us to "see" the value of fixing something that is broken.

For example, we encourage a health industry that cures illness, but we are not as good at funding and participating in prevention of illness.

Recently, however, we have made some headway in proving that prevention is much more effective and cheaper than fixing a problem once it has occurred. One obvious reason is that sometimes when one thing breaks, it puts pressure on the whole system (the human body or a community) and that can cause a chain reaction leading to more damage. Another reason is that some things are not fixable - once they break, that's it. They're a write-off.

In some cases, it's not easy to determine when something is broken beyond repair and when there is still time to steer the ship into the clear, when there is still reason to hope for a positive outcome.

Why is a child's environment between birth and five years so important?

In child development terms, science has been able to prove that when we are born, our brain's 100 billion nerve cells spend the first three to five years growing into a complex web which becomes set in stone as a direct result of our individual experiences. That is what makes us so successful as a species - the flexibility to individually adapt to our current environment in a permanent way, but it is also what makes us so vulnerable during our early years.

For example, humans are born with the genetic ability to learn language, however, if a child is prevented from being exposed to language during the first few years of his life, he will never be able to learn language, no matter how much tutoring he receives after that window of opportunity closes at around five years of age.

Early intervention: a way to prevent long-term damage

‘Early intervention’ is a phrase used by the social services industry to describe the benefits of helping families overcome the challenges of raising their children before permanent problems take hold.

In the realm of child development, early intervention is used as a harm-prevention strategy and can include:

• Vaccinations to prevent illness
• Education programs and parenting centres
• Home visits by nurses or volunteers to assist new parents who are struggling

Early intervention is backed by some impressive research: a well-established study by the US-based RAND Corporation found that for every $1 invested early in a child’s life, there is a $7 return. This return comes largely from savings on future costs such as health care, unemployment and crime. This does not include financial and other benefits that well-nurtured children can give back to society.

Studies underway in Australia are expected to confirm these results. And research conducted by 2003 Australian of the Year Dr Fiona Stanley has already identified various ‘exquisite ages’ where intervention into a child’s environment or health can avert permanent physical, emotional and social damage.

Why early intervention is so successful

Experts suggest that a ‘snowball effect’ plays a part in the success of early intervention. James Heckman, 2000 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, cites two reasons for the high rate of return:

1. Skill begets skill
2. Children have a longer horizon over which to recoup the fruits of ‘investment’

Another way to appreciate the benefits of early intervention is to visualise the challenge of not acting early: this chart  shows the long-term relationship between brain development and current public expenditure from conception to 80 years of age.

The benefits are more than economic

While the rate of return is impressive, early intervention has a more holistic undertow. Well-nurtured children are typically more confident and experience a greater sense of self-worth and fulfilment in life. Some other benefits of early intervention appear below.