Research featuring our work
As well as research commissioned by us, we are also
featured in research by others.
The Commission for Rural Communities has published
this summary report providing an overview of the challenges and
opportunities of delivering children's centre services in rural
areas and the experiences and perspectives of parents of young
children. It also sets out the key areas in which change is needed
to improve support for families through rural children's
centres:
The
Scottish Government has published an evaluation
of intensive family intervention projects in Scotland. The research
was undertaken mainly to evaluate the Breaking the Cycle pilot
projects funded by the Scottish Government. The evaluation focused
on the three pilot projects - Action for Children Scotland's Perth
Families project, and pilot projects in Falkirk and in South
Lanarkshire - as well as on Action for Children Scotland's Dundee
and Aberdeen Families projects. The evaluation endorsed the Dundee
Families project upon which the pilot projects were modelled, with
the evaluation report stating amongst its key conclusions: 'it
would appear that there is a good prospect of positive outcomes
from schemes set up on this model':
The Scottish Government commissioned an evaluation
of Intensive Support and Monitoring Services (ISMS) within the
Children's Hearings System, including Action for Children
programmes:
FMR
Research carried out an evaluation of North Lanarkshire Young
Carers. The aim of the research with young carers, parents and
front line staff was to gain their feedback on support services for
young carers, in terms of access and quality and to identify gaps
in support.
New Philanthropy
Capital features Action for Children in two of their
reports about disabled children. The more recent
report was produced to input into the Treasury/DfES review of
services for disabled children:
The earlier report examines the issues facing disabled children
and their families and highlights activities that are most likely
to benefit disabled children:
Action for Children services were part of an evaluation of six
Intensive Family Support Projects (IFSPs) commissioned by Communities and Local Government and the
Respect Task Force in 2006. Sheffield Hallam's initial report shows
how these projects were undertaking interventions with some of the
most disadvantaged families in the country. The study findings
indicate that, for the vast majority of families, the projects had
helped them achieve remarkable changes.
Following the successful completion of the evaluation in June
2006, Communities and Local Government and the
Respect Task Force commissioned the researchers at Sheffield Hallam
University to explore the longer-term outcomes associated with IFSP
interventions. 28 families who had worked with IFSPs during the
period 2004 to 2006-07 were successfully tracked:
Action for Children Wessex's remand fostering scheme was
evaluated independently by Jo Lipscombe.
Action for Children's Pembrokeshire Children's Centre was a key
site for the Department for Education and Skills Research
Report: