The programme is designed to help families work on issues as a group, in order to help create stability in the home for children and young people and prevent them being taken into care, where that is in their best interests. Coram will be evaluating the Family Group Conferencing strand of the programme, to find out more about the effectiveness of the intervention.
Renuka Jeyarajah-Dent, Deputy CEO of Coram, said: “We are delighted that we have been awarded the role of evaluation partner for implementation of Family Group Conferences. We will bring to this role centuries experience of working with children in or at the edge of care. All children, especially vulnerable children, deserve the best possible interventions to assist change and to enable them to thrive. FGCs are a process to plan and make decisions for a child at risk of being taken into care. They offer the opportunity to intervene early to improve child outcomes by actively involving the family in problem solving and we are pleased to be able to contribute to the evidence base on their effectiveness.”
The What Works Centre’s announcement recognises Coram’s wealth of knowledge and experience, and notes that the decision to award the evaluation to Coram follows an open application process and thorough assessment.
The What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care’s announcement said: “Independent evaluation is a vital part of building a trust worthy evidence base, and Coram bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the evaluation of this project.”
The two-year evaluation is due to start in September.