from support networks into areas where property is cheaper and deprivation is higher is resulting in greater demands on children’s services. The cost of living, austerity, welfare reform and the pandemic all disproportionately impact on children and compound racial and class disparities (JCHR, 2015). While these are global pressures, UK responses leave this country ranked 37 out of 39 EU and OECD nations on child poverty, and 39 for achieving positive change in child poverty over the preceding decade (Rees et al., 2023). The government’s commitment to addressing child poverty is evident in the recent launch of a child poverty taskforce; nevertheless, policy changes will take time to impact on the current situation and the resultant pressures on children, families and children’s services will continue for years to come. Early help SP9 brings new evidence to support the case for sustained commitment to, and funding for, early help and speaks to the government’s commitment ‘to break the cycle of late intervention and to keep families together wherever possible’. SP9 data show increased early help activity and green shoots of the impact of family hubs investment on improving community-based support. DCSs that have been able to make long-term investments in early help can track the impact on stemming the flow of families drawn into contact with statutory services and numbers of children entering care. Recent government spending commitments on early intervention (on family hubs, removing the payment by results mechanism for Supporting Families funding and the new Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant) signal very positive down payments on the government’s commitment to prevention and children’s development. The Young Futures Programme will see further partnership focus here