A view from the Advisory Group

 A view from the Advisory Group

Teresa Williams

There are many initiatives out there which seek to use data to improve outcomes for children.  But this one from the partnership led by Professor Leon Feinstein is different in its approach to three key challenges in using evidence to drive change, and it was these that made me want to be part of it.

First, the project seeks to blend evidence from quantitative data held by local authorities, with more direct insight from children’s voices.    Too often a failure to do the deep listening, proposed by this project means we fail to fully understand the needs and experiences of those we are here to serve resulting in a gap between the services offered, and the services needed.  This is especially true for children who need their voices amplified even more than adults.  

Second, this project starts with the proposition that the information it is working with belongs to children. It is their information – it’s there in the title – and that requires the project team to work alongside children and their families as partners.  This means involving children directly in resolving some of the knotty ethical dilemmas involved in protecting privacy and ensuring consent to use of data is sufficiently well informed.   It also represents a deliberate shift in the traditional balance of power between researchers and local authorities on the one hand and children as the subjects of research and beneficiaries of services. 

Third, the focus is on locally designed and delivered solutions, with academics and local authority practitioners working together with local partners to tackle specific area challenges.  But they will do so in a way that facilitates learning and common approaches between areas, while allowing sufficient scope for local tailoring and innovation.

Cafcass is a national organisation that is currently working on all three of these challenges, and so I am looking forward to both contributing to and learning from this timely project.