The study found that children from severely disadvantaged families - teenage mothers, lone parents, workless households - appear to be 'adversely affected by living in a SSLP community', whereas those from relatively less disadvantaged households benefit 'somewhat' from living in SSLP areas.
Children of teenage mothers, lone parents and workless households growing up in SSLP areas scored lower on verbal ability and social development than their counterparts in non-Sure Start areas, and the children of teenage mothers exhibited more behaviour problems.
Professor Edward Melhuish, head of the study, said, 'The adverse effects cannot be reported without mentioning the benefits. The beneficial effects of SSLPs - better social development and less negative parenting - applied to the majority of children and families living in Sure Start areas. No adverse effects occurred in children with non-teenage mothers.'
The findings, leaked to the media in September (News, 22 September), were published last week with four studies and best practice guidance for SSLPs.
But the methodology used to conduct the study - involving a cross-section of nine-month-old and 36-month-old children from 16,500 families in 150 Sure Start areas and 2,600 families in 50 non-Sure Start control areas - has been widely criticised for failing to record which children in Sure Start areas had contact with Sure Start services.
Researchers speculated that the programme was not reaching all those who could benefit because they might feel 'overwhelmed or turned off by the support that SSLPs offered'. It concluded that the use of services by those with 'greater human capital' left others with 'less access to services than would have been the case had they not lived in SSLP areas'.
Professor Melhuish said, 'The common finding in an evaluation of this kind is that the most disadvantaged are the hardest to reach. Many of them reject the intervention or are suspicious of authority.
'Sure Start programmes are advertised strongly in their local areas. But among some of the more deprived in the area, the least deprived had more human capital, which is not necessarily monetary, but the capacity to use and learn about the service, to work the system and get the best of it.'
Launching the findings, education secretary Ruth Kelly said, 'Sure Start is a great success, but we must make sure that its benefits reach everyone who needs them, particularly the disadvantaged.'
The evaluation says that 'stronger grounds for drawing definitive conclusions about SSLPs' effectiveness' will emerge when the nine-month-olds are followed up at age three.
The five early reports and guidance can be downloaded at www.surestart.gov.uk/research/evaluations/ness/latestreports.
