The publication of the Crisis and Resilience Fund guidance last month is a welcome signal that government is recognising what many local authorities and community organisations have long understood: crisis does not arrive suddenly. It builds quietly and unevenly, through sustained pressure on everyday essentials.
Crisis support tends, by its nature, to intervene late. It responds once households have already exhausted their coping strategies, when debts have accumulated, health has deteriorated or emergency food provision becomes unavoidable. By the time people qualify for crisis support, the damage to stability, wellbeing and resilience has already been done. The policy challenge is not whether crisis support is necessary, but how fewer households can be supported to avoid reaching that point at all.
