A child's early experiences, including the quality of their environment and parenting, strongly influence whether their developing brains provide a strong or weak foundation for future health, learning and behaviours.

For children exposed to chronic traumatic stress, the world is an unpredictable and dangerous place and their responses to it increase their sense of insecurity and anxiety. This leads them to often be unable to develop stable relationships later in life - storing up longer term problems.

Early intervention is crucial, therefore, during a child's earliest years, from conception to two years old, when their life patterns are set, in helping to ensure they are given the best possible start in life and the best chance of preventing crisis.

4Children is joined by all the leading policy experts and childcare, health and social programmes in supporting early intervention, including the Health Visitor Implementation Programme; Healthy Child Programme; Foundation Years; Social Mobility; and Social Justice Review. 

However, while £9bn a year is spent on troubled families, £8bn of that is spent on reactive crisis management and only £1bn on early intervention. This is despite the fact that early childhood interventions can shift the odds to more favourable outcomes and despite the clear benefits, including financial benefits, of prevention rather than cure. 

This reluctance to commit funds to early intervention exists because it isn't easy or cheap and because it requires understanding and a commitment to work differently, at a time when there can be no question of significant cuts in funding families who are currently in crisis.

We need, therefore, to make the case more strongly for early intervention, including by increasing awareness of the positive impact of effective early intervention programmes and systems, with best practice examples of both; of the critical role Children's Centres play in early intervention, from pre-birth and increasingly through 0-19 years; of the vital role Local Authorities have to play and the need to encourage them to develop early intervention plans; and of the work of the Early Intervention Foundation in supporting 20 local areas that are pioneering early intervention approaches.

Above all, we need to radically change the system and provide stronger leadership in reshaping services so that they engage with children and families, offer a joined-up approach and focus more on prevention and early intervention.