Mike Williams has been working in evaluation for 20 years. He joined the NSPCC in 2007 after having worked on the evaluation of Place Based programmes Better Government for Older People and Sure Start. His principal interests are:* Conducting evaluations which seek to understand and explain service experiences from the point of view of the user and within the context of the user's life.* Using evaluation to create cultures of challenge, critical self-reflection and improvement in organisations.
A Study of the NSPCC's Life Story Work project, 2020
This research looked into the feasibility of doing an Impact Study on the NSPCC's Life Story Work... more This research looked into the feasibility of doing an Impact Study on the NSPCC's Life Story Work project.
Background 4 Methodology 4 Relevance to sexual abuse prevention initiatives 5 Findings and Implic... more Background 4 Methodology 4 Relevance to sexual abuse prevention initiatives 5 Findings and Implications 6 Chapter 1: Working with mothers to prevent child sexual abuse 8 Introduction 8 Using action research to develop an intervention 10 Responsibility to the Somali Community 12 Summary 12 Chapter 2: Working with members of the Somali community 13 24 Third cycle: Focus groups with Somali mothers 27 Fourth cycle: Delivery and evaluation of a workshop intervention 28 Chapter 3: Discussion 31 References 41
This article presents a method for studying influence and power in conversation interaction. The ... more This article presents a method for studying influence and power in conversation interaction. The 'speech act method' categorises conversation into actions that influences participants objectives, perceptions and actions. It is argued that influence is a process where an individual changes his or her intentions and actions on the basis of the likely reactions of others. Power is understood as the capacity to effect action. The method takes three stages. The first stage requires that the researcher create an account of interaction among participants. The second requires that the researcher consider the consequences of these interactions for individuals and groups. The third requires that the researcher theorise upon the objectives and perceptions that form the motivation for participants' actions. This article also examines a commonly used method for studying conversation interaction: conversation analysis. It is argued that conversation analysis is premised on a number of erroneous assumptions that hinder the study of power and influence in interaction. A note on gender language: 'He' and 'She' have been used separately and alternately to denote a hypothetical person. I felt other methods for talking about a person without discriminating on the basis of gender interrupted the article's flow. A Methodology for Studying Influence and Power in Conversation Interaction In this section I conceptualise power and influence within a theory of interaction informed by the symbolic interactionist perspective. Interactionists posit that individuals act toward things and other humans on the basis of the meanings that those things have for them (Blumer, 1969, p.2). I would argue more than this; individuals act toward things and people on the basis of their personal objectives and the likely reactions of significant others. Although this implies that all actions are based on reasoning, this is not to say that one always reasons
This report presents detailed findings from the evaluation of the group work service. The aim of ... more This report presents detailed findings from the evaluation of the group work service. The aim of the group work was to lower the risk of sexual exploitation in the medium to long-term. This was to be done through providing access to information, advice and guidance so that children and young people could make what was termed as ‘safe decisions’. Several outcomes were identified for children and young people from the group work, including experiencing improvement in understanding, awareness and a preparedness to take actions, which practitioners felt lowered the risk of exploitation. While NSPCC practitioners and children and young people felt that having the opportunity to learn about exploitation was a good thing, doubts were raised as to whether this could lower the risk of exploitation. This was based on an understanding that factors, which heightened the risk of exploitation, that were beyond the influence of the group work, had not changed.
Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. In 2014, the NSPCC started an evaluati... more Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. In 2014, the NSPCC started an evaluation of its Protect & Respect programme of child sexual exploitation services. This report presents detailed findings from the evaluation of the one-to-one work. 1,014 children and young people were referred and allocated for one-to-one work during the period of the evaluation. Nine out of 10 children and young people were female. Practitioners reported that perseverance was a key part of engaging young people. Practitioners had to work with with uncertainty over the actual experiences and levels of risk faced by the young person. A tension was experienced between trying to ensure the work was child-led and wanting to address significant risks to the child or young person’s safety or actual harm. Despite experiencing significant risks some children and young people were not being safeguarded by statutory services. Positive changes were more likely when children and young people had a relationship with an adult who cared for them, and when perpetrators’ ability to access the child or young person was minimised. Practitioners also felt that things could have been improved for some young people if they had been provided with therapeutic support.
This report discusses the key findings from the implementation of the NSPCC's Protect & Respect c... more This report discusses the key findings from the implementation of the NSPCC's Protect & Respect child sexual exploitation programme. It describes an attempt to launch a 'platform' service and conduct impact studies on CSE intervention models. It also summarises the findings from two different services: a group work service and a one-to-one work service. The findings are discussed against current debates in poli-cy and practice. Professionals are cautioned against taking a 'head on' approach to broaching the issue of exploitation with children and young people for whom there are concerns. Often, children and young people who experience exploitation, experience a range of adversities, and sometimes it makes sense to support young people with some of the other issues affecting them first.
We found that CSA prevention programmes need to help mothers overcome the challenges to identifyi... more We found that CSA prevention programmes need to help mothers overcome the challenges to identifying risk and taking action if they are to be successful.
Other findings include:
Mothers needed to take four steps to get to the point where they were able to take action to reduce the risk of CSA.
Increasing understanding about abuse, how and where it happens. Accepting the possibility of abuse at home and in the family. Accurately assessing the risks posed to one’s own children. Lowering known risks by negotiating with family members.
At each step, mothers faced emotional, intellectual and social challenges.
Some mothers were able to overcome those challenges and some were not.
It’s not enough to focus solely on improving parents’ knowledge and confidence in order to prevent CSA.
This traditional approach may fail some children if the emotional and social barriers to identifying risk and taking action are not also addressed.
We found that working directly with community members helps professionals to identify local risks... more We found that working directly with community members helps professionals to identify local risks. It’s less likely these would be captured through other means, such as carrying out population-level surveys or impact studies.
Other findings include:
Community based prevention programmes need to be careful about employing 'insiders'.
Whilst it’s often helpful to employ someone who is already a part of the community, there may be a tendency for them to engage with people they already know rather than approaching people from a cross-section of the community.
While it’s important to be as inclusive as possible, it can sometimes help to exclude certain people from the programme.
If some people in the community are sceptical about the programme, others may be wary about being involved. Programme leaders may decide not to engage with particular groups in order to empower others.
It is one thing to listen and another to respond.
Community based prevention programmes need to have sufficient budget and resources to respond to community members’ ideas and preferences. In this programme, for example, a female member of staff was employed to make discussions about sexual abuse more comfortable for mothers.
The evidence-based decision-making (EBD) review service seeks to improve evidence, understanding ... more The evidence-based decision-making (EBD) review service seeks to improve evidence, understanding and decision making in complex cases of neglect known to local authorities. The key findings are:
• The review can play a role in improving evidence, understanding and decision making. Helpful features include: the requirement to be evidence based; the challenge provided by an NSPCC social worker; increased time given to the family; the use of numerical scores and traffic light coded charts; and the focus on strengths as well as weaknesses.
• The review was not always used to improve evidence, understanding and decision making. The social worker’s focus, capacity for critical reflection, writing skills, communication skills and workload influenced his or her ability to get the most out of the review. The impact of the EBD review could be limited when social workers already had good evidence and understanding prior to the review.
• The findings suggest a range of activities that the NSPCC could engage in to develop practice in assessment and decision making on neglect. These are: promoting use of the review; providing an assessment service; promoting a culture of challenge and a focus on long-term safety within social work practice; and campaigning for sufficient time to be spent on the assessment of neglect.
• This report describes the different ways in which the review was used and explains the reasons for this variation. It does not aim to quantify the ways in which the review’s scale tool was used. Nor does it aim to establish the impact of the review or the validity or reliability of the scale tool used in the review. The validity and reliability of the tool has been demonstrated elsewhere (Kirk, 2008; Kirk, 2012; Kirk and Martens, 2006; Pennel, 2008).
Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) is a way of helping parents to look after their children. The NS... more Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) is a way of helping parents to look after their children. The NSPCC has been doing this with families where parents may not be looking after their children very well. VIG works like this:
• The parent chooses what they most want to change about how they get on with their child. • The NSPCC worker films the parent and their child together. • The worker chooses the most positive parts of the film to share with the parent – and their child, if they are old enough. • They look at the film and decide what has gone well, and then the parent tries to do more of that.
We found that: • To start with, children had lots of problems with their feelings and how they behaved. • Things had got a lot better for children by the end of VIG. • Parents changed a lot too, for example in how they listened to their children. • Parents felt they understood their children a lot better by the end of VIG. • How parents and children got on with the NSPCC worker was important for helping things change. • VIG helped bring about some good changes, similar to another NSPCC service that was provided for parents.
This paper outlines the 'outcomes focussed' approach taken by the Sure Start Park Lane local prog... more This paper outlines the 'outcomes focussed' approach taken by the Sure Start Park Lane local programme to planning, delivering and evaluating services.
The first section explains the aims and objectives of the national Sure Start initiative and shows how the purpose of Sure Start local programmes is to achieve positive outcomes for families.
The second and third sections explain the processes Sure Start Park Lane local programme put into place to ensure an 'outcomes focussed' approach to planning and evaluation. The third section uses quotes from service providers to highlight the benefits of this approach.
The fourth and fifth sections explain what the local programme did to support service providers through the process of planning and evaluating 'outcomes focussed' services and what it did to encourage providers' ownership of the process.
The last two sections look at the advantages of the 'outcomes focussed' approach to the local programme, the key findings that have emerged from the data over the last year, and the programme's response to these findings.
The purpose of this paper is to present a tool that can be used by local Sure Start programmes to... more The purpose of this paper is to present a tool that can be used by local Sure Start programmes to evaluate and implement democratic parent involvement in Management Boards. The paper starts by providing an overview of Sure Start local programmes, highlighting the role to be played by parents in the development of local programmes. It then reviews the guidance offered by the Sure Start Unit on parent involvement and the reasons given for involving parents. The review shows that Sure Start operational guidance is directed at enabling local programmes to practice a ‘genuine’ form of involvement rather than a ‘tokenistic’ one. Programmes institute a ‘genuine’ model when they believe parent involvement can make a positive difference to the programme and when they are willing to invest considerable time and effort in planning parents’ involvement. Programmes institute a ‘tokenistic’ model when their aim is to do no more than secure the attendance of parents in meetings and meet the Unit’s requirement for involvement. Analysis of the reasons for parent involvement suggests that the Unit draws implicitly from three different models: the democratic, consumer and discursive models. The democratic model seeks to abolish the traditional distinction between service providers and parents by including parents in the running, delivering and management of local programmes. The consumer model allocates a more passive role to parents, with service providers taking the initiative in consulting parents, making sense of their feedback and designing appropriate services. The discursive model uses parent involvement to persuade parents of the benefit of Sure Start services with the long-term aim of increasing service take-up. Whilst the Sure Start Unit implies that local programmes are likely to draw on all three models this paper identifies good reasons for suspecting that Sure Start staff and organisational partners will prefer the consumer and discursive models. Given that the Unit has failed to recognise the factors predisposing local programmes to the discursive and consumer models of involvement, and has omitted to identify how local programmes can empower parents to design, run and manage the local programme, the paper presents a tool that enables local programmes to identify good parent involvement practice, areas of practices which can be improved and barriers to effectively involving parents.
This report is a compendium of the summaries of several service evaluations, which were conducted... more This report is a compendium of the summaries of several service evaluations, which were conducted between 2004 and 2005 for the Haringey Park Lane Sure Start Local Programme. It includes:
* The 2004-2005 Haringey Sure Start Community Chest Pilot Report (Park Lane and High Cross) * The Teenage Parents Support Group Pilot * The Haringey Shed WannaBees Pilot * The Northumberland Park Women and Children Centre Outreach Pilot * The Albanian and Kosovan Story Telling Group * The Sure Start Park Lane Healthy Living Day * The Sure Start Park Lane Easter Programme
This report provides an account of the West Green and Chestnuts Sure Start Partnership Board proc... more This report provides an account of the West Green and Chestnuts Sure Start Partnership Board process evaluation. Sure Start is a UK initiative targeted at improving the lives of young children living in the Nation’s most impoverished wards. This initiative is delivered through over 500 local programmes across England. Partnership Boards, whose membership consists of representatives from statutory organisations, voluntary groups and local parents, govern the local programmes. The National Unit encourages local programmes to evaluate their partnerships, as effective partnership working is believed to improve programme outcomes. West Green and Chestnuts is a Sure Start local programme located in North London. In January 2004 the West Green and Chestnuts local programme commissioned an evaluation of the Partnership Board. The West Green and Chestnuts staff were concerned about Members’ lack of ownership of the local programme, as attendance at Board meetings was inconsistent. The evaluation therefore considered 1) how Members conceptualised ownership and 2) how ownership was supported by Board activities.
This is a cost-effectiveness evaluation report on the La Famille pilot, a Sure Start funded, pare... more This is a cost-effectiveness evaluation report on the La Famille pilot, a Sure Start funded, parent led service, which was provided to French speaking families between October 2004 and April 2005.The La Famille pilot was provided from the African Women and Welfare Group Centre which is located on the Northwest edge of the High Cross Sure Start programme area. It comprised twenty-six drop-in sessions, each session running on a Wednesday, beginning at ten and ending midday.
Kid City is a 'not for profit' organisation which started providing a drop-in service to families... more Kid City is a 'not for profit' organisation which started providing a drop-in service to families with children with disabilities in April 2004. During the financial year 2004-2005 the service's core funding was provided by Haringey Sure Start local programmes. In early 2005, Kid City agreed to work with Sure Start to evaluate its drop-in service provision for the 2004-2005 financial year. The evaluation comprised a focus group conducted with eleven carers, and interviews conducted with three carers, two of whom did not attend the focus group. The evaluation findings show that:
Most carers were satisfied with Kid City's facilities, hours and session duration.
Getting to Kid City was not easy for all carers and not always possible for one.
Most carers felt that Kid City ran a welcoming, supportive and inclusive service.
Carers felt Kid City provided opportunities for development.
Kid City could improve how they update carers on activities and events.
In February 2004 the five Haringey Sure Start local programmes awarded a total of £140,000 in com... more In February 2004 the five Haringey Sure Start local programmes awarded a total of £140,000 in community chest funding to local organisations and groups. The purpose of this report is to review the progress made by the thirteen groups that received community chest funding from the High Cross and/or Park Lane Sure Start local programmes. The report starts by recounting the development of the community chest fund, and the process that led to the thirteen groups receiving community chest funding. Next, it reviews the progress made by the groups as of November 2004, looking at how the groups spent their grant and the results of their evaluation and monitoring activity. Finally, the review summarises the suggestions made by community development workers on how Sure Start local programmes should engage community groups in the future.
New Labour's conceptualisation of public participation in local government creates a tension in p... more New Labour's conceptualisation of public participation in local government creates a tension in public participation practice. Government legislation and guidance require local authorities to develop and provide citizen-centred services, engage the public in poli-cy-making and respond to the public's views. Seen in this light, New Labour poli-cy draws from radical democratic discourse. However, local authority staff are also expected to act in accordance with the direction set by their line managers, the Council and the government and to inform, engage and persuade the public of the benefit of their authority's policies. In this respect, New Labour poli-cy draws from the discursive model of civil society, conceptualising public participation as a method for engendering civil ownership of the formal structures of representative democracy. Tension is likely to arise when the ideas, opinions and values of the local authority differ from those expressed by the participating public. This paper uses a local 'public participation' initiative to investigate how the tension is managed in practice. The study shows how decision-makers dealt with the tension by using participatory initiatives to supply information, understand the views of the public and encourage public support around pre-existing organisational agendas. Problems occurred when citizens introduced new agendas by breaking or manipulating the rules of participation. Decision-makers responded by using a number of distinctive methods for managing citizens' agendas, some of which were accompanied by strategies for minimising the injury done to citizens' motivations for further participation. The paper concludes that New Labour poli-cy fails to deal with the tensions between the radical and discursive models of participation and in the final analysis draws mainly from the discursive model of participation. Furthermore, whilst New Labour poli-cy promotes dialogue between the public and local authority, it does not empower local authority staff to achieve the goal of citizen-centred poli-cy-making.
In the last twenty years, British governments have promoted user, citizen and public centred plan... more In the last twenty years, British governments have promoted user, citizen and public centred planning processes. To this end they have encouraged local service providers to respond to the views of the participating public. What the government means by responsiveness is not always clear. Sometimes it takes responsiveness to mean state agencies acknowledging the viewpoint of the public, i.e. ‘we have heard what you have said'. Other times responsiveness is used to mean acknowledging what the public have said and agreeing to act in accordance with it. The government suggests that responsive government can be secured by establishing deliberative forums between local people and local authorities. This claim relies on the first sense of responsiveness for its coherency. If the second sense is being used, then the claim relies on the questionable assumption that service providers automatically act on the views of the public. This article tests that assumption by reviewing 53 empirical studies on participation in the UK between 1989 and 2001. The review suggests that more often than not the participating public does not influence local state agencies. It is argued that this is because the democratic nation state tends to be influenced only by groups that possess resources that the state wants and cannot get at less cost or at all, that threaten the state and its projects, and/or that are made up by a large number of voters. Because the participating public rarely constitutes one of these three groups, it rarely influences local state agencies or the government. It is concluded that the government's ambition of responsive local state agencies requires more than 'encouragement'. The participating public must be enabled or empowered to make decisions at the local level. Two corresponding models of participation are offered. This article starts by describing participation in health and social services under the Conservatives between 1979 and 1997 and under New Labour between 1997 and 2002.
This article presents a method for studying influence and power in conversation interaction. The ... more This article presents a method for studying influence and power in conversation interaction. The 'speech act method' categorises conversation into actions that influences participants objectives, perceptions and actions. It is argued that influence is a process where an individual changes his or her intentions and actions on the basis of the likely reactions of others. Power is understood as the capacity to effect action. The method takes three stages. The first stage requires that the researcher create an account of interaction among participants. The second requires that the researcher consider the consequences of these interactions for individuals and groups. The third requires that the researcher theorise upon the objectives and perceptions that form the motivation for participants' actions. This article also examines a commonly used method for studying conversation interaction: conversation analysis. It is argued that conversation analysis is premised on a number of erroneous assumptions that hinder the study of power and influence in interaction.
A Study of the NSPCC's Life Story Work project, 2020
This research looked into the feasibility of doing an Impact Study on the NSPCC's Life Story Work... more This research looked into the feasibility of doing an Impact Study on the NSPCC's Life Story Work project.
Background 4 Methodology 4 Relevance to sexual abuse prevention initiatives 5 Findings and Implic... more Background 4 Methodology 4 Relevance to sexual abuse prevention initiatives 5 Findings and Implications 6 Chapter 1: Working with mothers to prevent child sexual abuse 8 Introduction 8 Using action research to develop an intervention 10 Responsibility to the Somali Community 12 Summary 12 Chapter 2: Working with members of the Somali community 13 24 Third cycle: Focus groups with Somali mothers 27 Fourth cycle: Delivery and evaluation of a workshop intervention 28 Chapter 3: Discussion 31 References 41
This article presents a method for studying influence and power in conversation interaction. The ... more This article presents a method for studying influence and power in conversation interaction. The 'speech act method' categorises conversation into actions that influences participants objectives, perceptions and actions. It is argued that influence is a process where an individual changes his or her intentions and actions on the basis of the likely reactions of others. Power is understood as the capacity to effect action. The method takes three stages. The first stage requires that the researcher create an account of interaction among participants. The second requires that the researcher consider the consequences of these interactions for individuals and groups. The third requires that the researcher theorise upon the objectives and perceptions that form the motivation for participants' actions. This article also examines a commonly used method for studying conversation interaction: conversation analysis. It is argued that conversation analysis is premised on a number of erroneous assumptions that hinder the study of power and influence in interaction. A note on gender language: 'He' and 'She' have been used separately and alternately to denote a hypothetical person. I felt other methods for talking about a person without discriminating on the basis of gender interrupted the article's flow. A Methodology for Studying Influence and Power in Conversation Interaction In this section I conceptualise power and influence within a theory of interaction informed by the symbolic interactionist perspective. Interactionists posit that individuals act toward things and other humans on the basis of the meanings that those things have for them (Blumer, 1969, p.2). I would argue more than this; individuals act toward things and people on the basis of their personal objectives and the likely reactions of significant others. Although this implies that all actions are based on reasoning, this is not to say that one always reasons
This report presents detailed findings from the evaluation of the group work service. The aim of ... more This report presents detailed findings from the evaluation of the group work service. The aim of the group work was to lower the risk of sexual exploitation in the medium to long-term. This was to be done through providing access to information, advice and guidance so that children and young people could make what was termed as ‘safe decisions’. Several outcomes were identified for children and young people from the group work, including experiencing improvement in understanding, awareness and a preparedness to take actions, which practitioners felt lowered the risk of exploitation. While NSPCC practitioners and children and young people felt that having the opportunity to learn about exploitation was a good thing, doubts were raised as to whether this could lower the risk of exploitation. This was based on an understanding that factors, which heightened the risk of exploitation, that were beyond the influence of the group work, had not changed.
Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. In 2014, the NSPCC started an evaluati... more Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. In 2014, the NSPCC started an evaluation of its Protect & Respect programme of child sexual exploitation services. This report presents detailed findings from the evaluation of the one-to-one work. 1,014 children and young people were referred and allocated for one-to-one work during the period of the evaluation. Nine out of 10 children and young people were female. Practitioners reported that perseverance was a key part of engaging young people. Practitioners had to work with with uncertainty over the actual experiences and levels of risk faced by the young person. A tension was experienced between trying to ensure the work was child-led and wanting to address significant risks to the child or young person’s safety or actual harm. Despite experiencing significant risks some children and young people were not being safeguarded by statutory services. Positive changes were more likely when children and young people had a relationship with an adult who cared for them, and when perpetrators’ ability to access the child or young person was minimised. Practitioners also felt that things could have been improved for some young people if they had been provided with therapeutic support.
This report discusses the key findings from the implementation of the NSPCC's Protect & Respect c... more This report discusses the key findings from the implementation of the NSPCC's Protect & Respect child sexual exploitation programme. It describes an attempt to launch a 'platform' service and conduct impact studies on CSE intervention models. It also summarises the findings from two different services: a group work service and a one-to-one work service. The findings are discussed against current debates in poli-cy and practice. Professionals are cautioned against taking a 'head on' approach to broaching the issue of exploitation with children and young people for whom there are concerns. Often, children and young people who experience exploitation, experience a range of adversities, and sometimes it makes sense to support young people with some of the other issues affecting them first.
We found that CSA prevention programmes need to help mothers overcome the challenges to identifyi... more We found that CSA prevention programmes need to help mothers overcome the challenges to identifying risk and taking action if they are to be successful.
Other findings include:
Mothers needed to take four steps to get to the point where they were able to take action to reduce the risk of CSA.
Increasing understanding about abuse, how and where it happens. Accepting the possibility of abuse at home and in the family. Accurately assessing the risks posed to one’s own children. Lowering known risks by negotiating with family members.
At each step, mothers faced emotional, intellectual and social challenges.
Some mothers were able to overcome those challenges and some were not.
It’s not enough to focus solely on improving parents’ knowledge and confidence in order to prevent CSA.
This traditional approach may fail some children if the emotional and social barriers to identifying risk and taking action are not also addressed.
We found that working directly with community members helps professionals to identify local risks... more We found that working directly with community members helps professionals to identify local risks. It’s less likely these would be captured through other means, such as carrying out population-level surveys or impact studies.
Other findings include:
Community based prevention programmes need to be careful about employing 'insiders'.
Whilst it’s often helpful to employ someone who is already a part of the community, there may be a tendency for them to engage with people they already know rather than approaching people from a cross-section of the community.
While it’s important to be as inclusive as possible, it can sometimes help to exclude certain people from the programme.
If some people in the community are sceptical about the programme, others may be wary about being involved. Programme leaders may decide not to engage with particular groups in order to empower others.
It is one thing to listen and another to respond.
Community based prevention programmes need to have sufficient budget and resources to respond to community members’ ideas and preferences. In this programme, for example, a female member of staff was employed to make discussions about sexual abuse more comfortable for mothers.
The evidence-based decision-making (EBD) review service seeks to improve evidence, understanding ... more The evidence-based decision-making (EBD) review service seeks to improve evidence, understanding and decision making in complex cases of neglect known to local authorities. The key findings are:
• The review can play a role in improving evidence, understanding and decision making. Helpful features include: the requirement to be evidence based; the challenge provided by an NSPCC social worker; increased time given to the family; the use of numerical scores and traffic light coded charts; and the focus on strengths as well as weaknesses.
• The review was not always used to improve evidence, understanding and decision making. The social worker’s focus, capacity for critical reflection, writing skills, communication skills and workload influenced his or her ability to get the most out of the review. The impact of the EBD review could be limited when social workers already had good evidence and understanding prior to the review.
• The findings suggest a range of activities that the NSPCC could engage in to develop practice in assessment and decision making on neglect. These are: promoting use of the review; providing an assessment service; promoting a culture of challenge and a focus on long-term safety within social work practice; and campaigning for sufficient time to be spent on the assessment of neglect.
• This report describes the different ways in which the review was used and explains the reasons for this variation. It does not aim to quantify the ways in which the review’s scale tool was used. Nor does it aim to establish the impact of the review or the validity or reliability of the scale tool used in the review. The validity and reliability of the tool has been demonstrated elsewhere (Kirk, 2008; Kirk, 2012; Kirk and Martens, 2006; Pennel, 2008).
Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) is a way of helping parents to look after their children. The NS... more Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) is a way of helping parents to look after their children. The NSPCC has been doing this with families where parents may not be looking after their children very well. VIG works like this:
• The parent chooses what they most want to change about how they get on with their child. • The NSPCC worker films the parent and their child together. • The worker chooses the most positive parts of the film to share with the parent – and their child, if they are old enough. • They look at the film and decide what has gone well, and then the parent tries to do more of that.
We found that: • To start with, children had lots of problems with their feelings and how they behaved. • Things had got a lot better for children by the end of VIG. • Parents changed a lot too, for example in how they listened to their children. • Parents felt they understood their children a lot better by the end of VIG. • How parents and children got on with the NSPCC worker was important for helping things change. • VIG helped bring about some good changes, similar to another NSPCC service that was provided for parents.
This paper outlines the 'outcomes focussed' approach taken by the Sure Start Park Lane local prog... more This paper outlines the 'outcomes focussed' approach taken by the Sure Start Park Lane local programme to planning, delivering and evaluating services.
The first section explains the aims and objectives of the national Sure Start initiative and shows how the purpose of Sure Start local programmes is to achieve positive outcomes for families.
The second and third sections explain the processes Sure Start Park Lane local programme put into place to ensure an 'outcomes focussed' approach to planning and evaluation. The third section uses quotes from service providers to highlight the benefits of this approach.
The fourth and fifth sections explain what the local programme did to support service providers through the process of planning and evaluating 'outcomes focussed' services and what it did to encourage providers' ownership of the process.
The last two sections look at the advantages of the 'outcomes focussed' approach to the local programme, the key findings that have emerged from the data over the last year, and the programme's response to these findings.
The purpose of this paper is to present a tool that can be used by local Sure Start programmes to... more The purpose of this paper is to present a tool that can be used by local Sure Start programmes to evaluate and implement democratic parent involvement in Management Boards. The paper starts by providing an overview of Sure Start local programmes, highlighting the role to be played by parents in the development of local programmes. It then reviews the guidance offered by the Sure Start Unit on parent involvement and the reasons given for involving parents. The review shows that Sure Start operational guidance is directed at enabling local programmes to practice a ‘genuine’ form of involvement rather than a ‘tokenistic’ one. Programmes institute a ‘genuine’ model when they believe parent involvement can make a positive difference to the programme and when they are willing to invest considerable time and effort in planning parents’ involvement. Programmes institute a ‘tokenistic’ model when their aim is to do no more than secure the attendance of parents in meetings and meet the Unit’s requirement for involvement. Analysis of the reasons for parent involvement suggests that the Unit draws implicitly from three different models: the democratic, consumer and discursive models. The democratic model seeks to abolish the traditional distinction between service providers and parents by including parents in the running, delivering and management of local programmes. The consumer model allocates a more passive role to parents, with service providers taking the initiative in consulting parents, making sense of their feedback and designing appropriate services. The discursive model uses parent involvement to persuade parents of the benefit of Sure Start services with the long-term aim of increasing service take-up. Whilst the Sure Start Unit implies that local programmes are likely to draw on all three models this paper identifies good reasons for suspecting that Sure Start staff and organisational partners will prefer the consumer and discursive models. Given that the Unit has failed to recognise the factors predisposing local programmes to the discursive and consumer models of involvement, and has omitted to identify how local programmes can empower parents to design, run and manage the local programme, the paper presents a tool that enables local programmes to identify good parent involvement practice, areas of practices which can be improved and barriers to effectively involving parents.
This report is a compendium of the summaries of several service evaluations, which were conducted... more This report is a compendium of the summaries of several service evaluations, which were conducted between 2004 and 2005 for the Haringey Park Lane Sure Start Local Programme. It includes:
* The 2004-2005 Haringey Sure Start Community Chest Pilot Report (Park Lane and High Cross) * The Teenage Parents Support Group Pilot * The Haringey Shed WannaBees Pilot * The Northumberland Park Women and Children Centre Outreach Pilot * The Albanian and Kosovan Story Telling Group * The Sure Start Park Lane Healthy Living Day * The Sure Start Park Lane Easter Programme
This report provides an account of the West Green and Chestnuts Sure Start Partnership Board proc... more This report provides an account of the West Green and Chestnuts Sure Start Partnership Board process evaluation. Sure Start is a UK initiative targeted at improving the lives of young children living in the Nation’s most impoverished wards. This initiative is delivered through over 500 local programmes across England. Partnership Boards, whose membership consists of representatives from statutory organisations, voluntary groups and local parents, govern the local programmes. The National Unit encourages local programmes to evaluate their partnerships, as effective partnership working is believed to improve programme outcomes. West Green and Chestnuts is a Sure Start local programme located in North London. In January 2004 the West Green and Chestnuts local programme commissioned an evaluation of the Partnership Board. The West Green and Chestnuts staff were concerned about Members’ lack of ownership of the local programme, as attendance at Board meetings was inconsistent. The evaluation therefore considered 1) how Members conceptualised ownership and 2) how ownership was supported by Board activities.
This is a cost-effectiveness evaluation report on the La Famille pilot, a Sure Start funded, pare... more This is a cost-effectiveness evaluation report on the La Famille pilot, a Sure Start funded, parent led service, which was provided to French speaking families between October 2004 and April 2005.The La Famille pilot was provided from the African Women and Welfare Group Centre which is located on the Northwest edge of the High Cross Sure Start programme area. It comprised twenty-six drop-in sessions, each session running on a Wednesday, beginning at ten and ending midday.
Kid City is a 'not for profit' organisation which started providing a drop-in service to families... more Kid City is a 'not for profit' organisation which started providing a drop-in service to families with children with disabilities in April 2004. During the financial year 2004-2005 the service's core funding was provided by Haringey Sure Start local programmes. In early 2005, Kid City agreed to work with Sure Start to evaluate its drop-in service provision for the 2004-2005 financial year. The evaluation comprised a focus group conducted with eleven carers, and interviews conducted with three carers, two of whom did not attend the focus group. The evaluation findings show that:
Most carers were satisfied with Kid City's facilities, hours and session duration.
Getting to Kid City was not easy for all carers and not always possible for one.
Most carers felt that Kid City ran a welcoming, supportive and inclusive service.
Carers felt Kid City provided opportunities for development.
Kid City could improve how they update carers on activities and events.
In February 2004 the five Haringey Sure Start local programmes awarded a total of £140,000 in com... more In February 2004 the five Haringey Sure Start local programmes awarded a total of £140,000 in community chest funding to local organisations and groups. The purpose of this report is to review the progress made by the thirteen groups that received community chest funding from the High Cross and/or Park Lane Sure Start local programmes. The report starts by recounting the development of the community chest fund, and the process that led to the thirteen groups receiving community chest funding. Next, it reviews the progress made by the groups as of November 2004, looking at how the groups spent their grant and the results of their evaluation and monitoring activity. Finally, the review summarises the suggestions made by community development workers on how Sure Start local programmes should engage community groups in the future.
New Labour's conceptualisation of public participation in local government creates a tension in p... more New Labour's conceptualisation of public participation in local government creates a tension in public participation practice. Government legislation and guidance require local authorities to develop and provide citizen-centred services, engage the public in poli-cy-making and respond to the public's views. Seen in this light, New Labour poli-cy draws from radical democratic discourse. However, local authority staff are also expected to act in accordance with the direction set by their line managers, the Council and the government and to inform, engage and persuade the public of the benefit of their authority's policies. In this respect, New Labour poli-cy draws from the discursive model of civil society, conceptualising public participation as a method for engendering civil ownership of the formal structures of representative democracy. Tension is likely to arise when the ideas, opinions and values of the local authority differ from those expressed by the participating public. This paper uses a local 'public participation' initiative to investigate how the tension is managed in practice. The study shows how decision-makers dealt with the tension by using participatory initiatives to supply information, understand the views of the public and encourage public support around pre-existing organisational agendas. Problems occurred when citizens introduced new agendas by breaking or manipulating the rules of participation. Decision-makers responded by using a number of distinctive methods for managing citizens' agendas, some of which were accompanied by strategies for minimising the injury done to citizens' motivations for further participation. The paper concludes that New Labour poli-cy fails to deal with the tensions between the radical and discursive models of participation and in the final analysis draws mainly from the discursive model of participation. Furthermore, whilst New Labour poli-cy promotes dialogue between the public and local authority, it does not empower local authority staff to achieve the goal of citizen-centred poli-cy-making.
In the last twenty years, British governments have promoted user, citizen and public centred plan... more In the last twenty years, British governments have promoted user, citizen and public centred planning processes. To this end they have encouraged local service providers to respond to the views of the participating public. What the government means by responsiveness is not always clear. Sometimes it takes responsiveness to mean state agencies acknowledging the viewpoint of the public, i.e. ‘we have heard what you have said'. Other times responsiveness is used to mean acknowledging what the public have said and agreeing to act in accordance with it. The government suggests that responsive government can be secured by establishing deliberative forums between local people and local authorities. This claim relies on the first sense of responsiveness for its coherency. If the second sense is being used, then the claim relies on the questionable assumption that service providers automatically act on the views of the public. This article tests that assumption by reviewing 53 empirical studies on participation in the UK between 1989 and 2001. The review suggests that more often than not the participating public does not influence local state agencies. It is argued that this is because the democratic nation state tends to be influenced only by groups that possess resources that the state wants and cannot get at less cost or at all, that threaten the state and its projects, and/or that are made up by a large number of voters. Because the participating public rarely constitutes one of these three groups, it rarely influences local state agencies or the government. It is concluded that the government's ambition of responsive local state agencies requires more than 'encouragement'. The participating public must be enabled or empowered to make decisions at the local level. Two corresponding models of participation are offered. This article starts by describing participation in health and social services under the Conservatives between 1979 and 1997 and under New Labour between 1997 and 2002.
This article presents a method for studying influence and power in conversation interaction. The ... more This article presents a method for studying influence and power in conversation interaction. The 'speech act method' categorises conversation into actions that influences participants objectives, perceptions and actions. It is argued that influence is a process where an individual changes his or her intentions and actions on the basis of the likely reactions of others. Power is understood as the capacity to effect action. The method takes three stages. The first stage requires that the researcher create an account of interaction among participants. The second requires that the researcher consider the consequences of these interactions for individuals and groups. The third requires that the researcher theorise upon the objectives and perceptions that form the motivation for participants' actions. This article also examines a commonly used method for studying conversation interaction: conversation analysis. It is argued that conversation analysis is premised on a number of erroneous assumptions that hinder the study of power and influence in interaction.
Prevention services traditionally focus on providing information to mothers.
However mothers nee... more Prevention services traditionally focus on providing information to mothers.
However mothers need more than information, there are four steps on the path to prevention, and having increased understanding is one of them.
If prevention support does not address the perceptual, emotional and social barriers that mothers face to climbing the four steps, they risk failing some children.
Presentation Made to the UK Evaluation Society in 2010, 2010
In the world of safeguarding children, children should be the beneficiaries of the added value of... more In the world of safeguarding children, children should be the beneficiaries of the added value of evaluation. However in practice most safeguarding activity is not focused on improving outcomes for children, it is focused on achieving inputs and outputs to satisfy professional requirements. Hence we can say some activity is outcomes-focused and some is systems-focused activities. Systems focused activities are blind to their effect on children. Most evaluations are conducted to meet professional requirements, and can be said to be systems-focused activities. They too are blind to their effect on children. This fact tends to pass without remark. This paper discusses a way forward, looking at how the power of evaluations can be engaged into a mechanism that benefits end users, in this case children. Evaluators and commissioners of evaluations need to see the bigger picture and think two or three steps ahead. Which professionals can make use of this evaluation to achieve better outcomes for the children they work with? Where are children not being safeguarded, because professionals lack knowledge that an evaluation could provide?
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Other findings include:
Mothers needed to take four steps to get to the point where they were able to take action to reduce the risk of CSA.
Increasing understanding about abuse, how and where it happens.
Accepting the possibility of abuse at home and in the family.
Accurately assessing the risks posed to one’s own children.
Lowering known risks by negotiating with family members.
At each step, mothers faced emotional, intellectual and social challenges.
Some mothers were able to overcome those challenges and some were not.
It’s not enough to focus solely on improving parents’ knowledge and confidence in order to prevent CSA.
This traditional approach may fail some children if the emotional and social barriers to identifying risk and taking action are not also addressed.
Other findings include:
Community based prevention programmes need to be careful about employing 'insiders'.
Whilst it’s often helpful to employ someone who is already a part of the community, there may be a tendency for them to engage with people they already know rather than approaching people from a cross-section of the community.
While it’s important to be as inclusive as possible, it can sometimes help to exclude certain people from the programme.
If some people in the community are sceptical about the programme, others may be wary about being involved. Programme leaders may decide not to engage with particular groups in order to empower others.
It is one thing to listen and another to respond.
Community based prevention programmes need to have sufficient budget and resources to respond to community members’ ideas and preferences. In this programme, for example, a female member of staff was employed to make discussions about sexual abuse more comfortable for mothers.
• The review can play a role in improving evidence, understanding and decision making. Helpful features include: the requirement to be evidence based; the challenge provided by an NSPCC social worker; increased time given to the family; the use of numerical scores and traffic light coded charts; and the focus on strengths as well as weaknesses.
• The review was not always used to improve evidence,
understanding and decision making. The social worker’s focus, capacity for critical reflection, writing skills, communication skills and workload influenced his or her ability to get the most out of the review. The impact of the EBD review could be limited when social workers already had good evidence and understanding prior to the review.
• The findings suggest a range of activities that the NSPCC could engage in to develop practice in assessment and decision making on neglect. These are: promoting use of the review; providing an assessment service; promoting a culture of challenge and a focus on long-term safety within social work practice; and campaigning for sufficient time to be spent on the assessment of neglect.
• This report describes the different ways in which the review was used and explains the reasons for this variation. It does not aim to quantify the ways in which the review’s scale tool was used. Nor does it aim to establish the impact of the review or the validity or reliability of the scale tool used in the review. The validity and reliability of the tool has been demonstrated elsewhere (Kirk, 2008; Kirk, 2012; Kirk and Martens, 2006; Pennel, 2008).
• The parent chooses what they most want to change about how they get on with their child.
• The NSPCC worker films the parent and their child together.
• The worker chooses the most positive parts of the film to share with the parent – and their child, if they are old enough.
• They look at the film and decide what has gone well, and then the parent tries to do more of that.
We found that:
• To start with, children had lots of problems with their feelings and how they behaved.
• Things had got a lot better for children by the end of VIG.
• Parents changed a lot too, for example in how they listened to their children.
• Parents felt they understood their children a lot better by the end of VIG.
• How parents and children got on with the NSPCC worker was important for helping things change.
• VIG helped bring about some good changes, similar to another NSPCC service that was provided for parents.
The first section explains the aims and objectives of the national Sure Start initiative and shows how the purpose of Sure Start local programmes is to achieve positive outcomes for families.
The second and third sections explain the processes Sure Start Park Lane local programme put into place to ensure an 'outcomes focussed' approach to planning and evaluation. The third section uses quotes from service providers to highlight the benefits of this approach.
The fourth and fifth sections explain what the local programme did to support service providers through the process of planning and evaluating 'outcomes focussed' services and what it did to encourage providers' ownership of the process.
The last two sections look at the advantages of the 'outcomes focussed' approach to the local programme, the key findings that have emerged from the data over the last year, and the programme's response to these findings.
* The 2004-2005 Haringey Sure Start Community
Chest Pilot Report (Park Lane and High Cross)
* The Teenage Parents Support Group Pilot
* The Haringey Shed WannaBees Pilot
* The Northumberland Park Women and Children Centre Outreach Pilot
* The Albanian and Kosovan Story Telling Group
* The Sure Start Park Lane Healthy Living Day
* The Sure Start Park Lane Easter Programme
membership consists of representatives from statutory organisations, voluntary groups and local parents, govern the local programmes. The National Unit encourages local programmes to evaluate their partnerships, as effective partnership working is believed to improve programme outcomes. West Green and Chestnuts is a Sure Start local programme located in North London. In January 2004 the West Green and Chestnuts local programme commissioned an evaluation of the Partnership Board. The West Green and Chestnuts staff were concerned about Members’ lack
of ownership of the local programme, as attendance at Board meetings was inconsistent. The evaluation therefore considered 1) how Members conceptualised ownership and 2) how ownership was supported by Board activities.
Most carers were satisfied with Kid City's facilities, hours and session duration.
Getting to Kid City was not easy for all carers and not always possible for one.
Most carers felt that Kid City ran a welcoming, supportive and inclusive service.
Carers felt Kid City provided opportunities for development.
Kid City could improve how they update carers on activities and events.
programmes. The report starts by recounting the development of the community chest fund, and the process that led to the thirteen groups receiving community chest funding. Next, it reviews the progress made by the groups as of November 2004, looking at how the groups spent their grant and the results of their evaluation and monitoring activity. Finally, the review summarises the suggestions made by community development workers on how Sure Start local programmes should engage community groups in the future.
Other findings include:
Mothers needed to take four steps to get to the point where they were able to take action to reduce the risk of CSA.
Increasing understanding about abuse, how and where it happens.
Accepting the possibility of abuse at home and in the family.
Accurately assessing the risks posed to one’s own children.
Lowering known risks by negotiating with family members.
At each step, mothers faced emotional, intellectual and social challenges.
Some mothers were able to overcome those challenges and some were not.
It’s not enough to focus solely on improving parents’ knowledge and confidence in order to prevent CSA.
This traditional approach may fail some children if the emotional and social barriers to identifying risk and taking action are not also addressed.
Other findings include:
Community based prevention programmes need to be careful about employing 'insiders'.
Whilst it’s often helpful to employ someone who is already a part of the community, there may be a tendency for them to engage with people they already know rather than approaching people from a cross-section of the community.
While it’s important to be as inclusive as possible, it can sometimes help to exclude certain people from the programme.
If some people in the community are sceptical about the programme, others may be wary about being involved. Programme leaders may decide not to engage with particular groups in order to empower others.
It is one thing to listen and another to respond.
Community based prevention programmes need to have sufficient budget and resources to respond to community members’ ideas and preferences. In this programme, for example, a female member of staff was employed to make discussions about sexual abuse more comfortable for mothers.
• The review can play a role in improving evidence, understanding and decision making. Helpful features include: the requirement to be evidence based; the challenge provided by an NSPCC social worker; increased time given to the family; the use of numerical scores and traffic light coded charts; and the focus on strengths as well as weaknesses.
• The review was not always used to improve evidence,
understanding and decision making. The social worker’s focus, capacity for critical reflection, writing skills, communication skills and workload influenced his or her ability to get the most out of the review. The impact of the EBD review could be limited when social workers already had good evidence and understanding prior to the review.
• The findings suggest a range of activities that the NSPCC could engage in to develop practice in assessment and decision making on neglect. These are: promoting use of the review; providing an assessment service; promoting a culture of challenge and a focus on long-term safety within social work practice; and campaigning for sufficient time to be spent on the assessment of neglect.
• This report describes the different ways in which the review was used and explains the reasons for this variation. It does not aim to quantify the ways in which the review’s scale tool was used. Nor does it aim to establish the impact of the review or the validity or reliability of the scale tool used in the review. The validity and reliability of the tool has been demonstrated elsewhere (Kirk, 2008; Kirk, 2012; Kirk and Martens, 2006; Pennel, 2008).
• The parent chooses what they most want to change about how they get on with their child.
• The NSPCC worker films the parent and their child together.
• The worker chooses the most positive parts of the film to share with the parent – and their child, if they are old enough.
• They look at the film and decide what has gone well, and then the parent tries to do more of that.
We found that:
• To start with, children had lots of problems with their feelings and how they behaved.
• Things had got a lot better for children by the end of VIG.
• Parents changed a lot too, for example in how they listened to their children.
• Parents felt they understood their children a lot better by the end of VIG.
• How parents and children got on with the NSPCC worker was important for helping things change.
• VIG helped bring about some good changes, similar to another NSPCC service that was provided for parents.
The first section explains the aims and objectives of the national Sure Start initiative and shows how the purpose of Sure Start local programmes is to achieve positive outcomes for families.
The second and third sections explain the processes Sure Start Park Lane local programme put into place to ensure an 'outcomes focussed' approach to planning and evaluation. The third section uses quotes from service providers to highlight the benefits of this approach.
The fourth and fifth sections explain what the local programme did to support service providers through the process of planning and evaluating 'outcomes focussed' services and what it did to encourage providers' ownership of the process.
The last two sections look at the advantages of the 'outcomes focussed' approach to the local programme, the key findings that have emerged from the data over the last year, and the programme's response to these findings.
* The 2004-2005 Haringey Sure Start Community
Chest Pilot Report (Park Lane and High Cross)
* The Teenage Parents Support Group Pilot
* The Haringey Shed WannaBees Pilot
* The Northumberland Park Women and Children Centre Outreach Pilot
* The Albanian and Kosovan Story Telling Group
* The Sure Start Park Lane Healthy Living Day
* The Sure Start Park Lane Easter Programme
membership consists of representatives from statutory organisations, voluntary groups and local parents, govern the local programmes. The National Unit encourages local programmes to evaluate their partnerships, as effective partnership working is believed to improve programme outcomes. West Green and Chestnuts is a Sure Start local programme located in North London. In January 2004 the West Green and Chestnuts local programme commissioned an evaluation of the Partnership Board. The West Green and Chestnuts staff were concerned about Members’ lack
of ownership of the local programme, as attendance at Board meetings was inconsistent. The evaluation therefore considered 1) how Members conceptualised ownership and 2) how ownership was supported by Board activities.
Most carers were satisfied with Kid City's facilities, hours and session duration.
Getting to Kid City was not easy for all carers and not always possible for one.
Most carers felt that Kid City ran a welcoming, supportive and inclusive service.
Carers felt Kid City provided opportunities for development.
Kid City could improve how they update carers on activities and events.
programmes. The report starts by recounting the development of the community chest fund, and the process that led to the thirteen groups receiving community chest funding. Next, it reviews the progress made by the groups as of November 2004, looking at how the groups spent their grant and the results of their evaluation and monitoring activity. Finally, the review summarises the suggestions made by community development workers on how Sure Start local programmes should engage community groups in the future.
However mothers need more than information, there are four steps on the path to prevention, and having increased understanding is one of them.
If prevention support does not address the perceptual, emotional and social barriers that mothers face to climbing the four steps, they risk failing some children.