A framework for outcomes for young people, and explore key issues in evidencing the impact of interventions with children and young people

1. Gill Millar
South West Regional
Youth Work Adviser
Impact in children and young
people’s services – are you
investment ready?
April 2014

2. 4 Questions…
 Why do outcomes & impact matter?
 What are the key outcomes for children & young
people?
 What is a ‘theory of change’?
 How can we demonstrate the impact of work with
children, young people and families?

3. Why do outcomes matter?
Government, commissioners & funders now think about the
‘outcomes’ & ‘impact’ of interventions as being more important
than the processes used in achieving them
Shrinking resources for public services, so money needs to be
spent on interventions which have a strong chance of success
(‘evidence based practice’)
Funders want to see ‘return on investment’, and want to invest in
interventions with a track record of moving people from a
negative to a positive trajectory
Youth work in particular has been severely criticised for not
having enough evidence of its effectiveness

4. What are the key outcomes for
young people?
Young Foundation Framework for Outcomes for Young People
 Review of research studies into young people’s transitions
to adulthood (evidence base)
 Identify critical ‘capabilities’ required to make successful
transitions
 Showed how possession of these capabilities enabled
young people to progress successfully
 Identified a range of tools that could be used to measure
these capabilities

5. 7 clusters of capabilities

6. What is a ‘theory of change’?
NESTA model core elements:
Ultimate Goal(s) – the top-line impact you want to achieve
(reduce youth offending rates; improve educational achievement)
Intermediate outcomes - direct outcomes resulting from your
work/project
Programme activities: what you will actually do to achieve the
intermediate outcomes
Linking the stages together: showing which activities produce
which outcomes and how that contributes to the ultimate goals
Examine your assumptions: what are you assuming/taking for
granted? Challenge and justify these

7. What is your ‘theory of change’?
Example
Theory of Change Evidence required
Open access youth work will
attract young people who
would engage in negative
activities without it
Information about the young
people who attend –
backgrounds, current
capabilities
Skilled youth workers will
engage those young people in
ways that enable them to
develop capabilities
Information about how
individuals and groups
progress during their
engagement
Young people with improved
capabilities will make better
transitions
Young Foundation literature
review
Impact measures

8. Outcomes based commissioning
 Commissioning based on the outcomes rather than the
processes used to achieve them (e.g. ‘25% reduction in youth
offending’, rather than ‘10 potential young offenders receive
intensive support’)
 Can be based on the savings that will be made by preventing the
negative outcome, rather than the cost of providing the
preventative service
 Tends to be based on longer term changes, so contracts are
longer
 Usually linked to payment by results, with full payment to
providers only on achieving the successful outcome (e.g.
Government Youth Programme, with phased payments)

9. Preparing for Payment by Results
 Know the cost to public bodies of the negative outcomes
commissioners want to reduce (e.g. the total costs of youth
crime)
 Build a track record of delivering outcomes, with evidence that
your programmes achieve commissioners’ desired outcomes
 Establish potential delivery partnerships that are ready to
collaborate on delivery
 Engage with potential social investors (public sector
commissioners, private sector investors, trusts)

10. Tips and things to consider
 Can you influence your funders about the kinds of outcomes they
want you to evidence?
 Really think about your ‘theory of change’ for each project – it will
help you measure the right things
 Try to focus on ‘outcome’ rather than ‘input’ data collection
(though you might want both in order to demonstrate your theory
of change)
 Invest in appropriate information systems – maybe jointly?
 Use evidence to improve practice in your organisation, not just to
inform funders

11. More support?
Nationally:
Young Foundation has produced additional guidance on
measuring outcomes (Jan 2013)
Regionally:
Regional Youth Work Unit has set up Evidencing Outcomes
Network, to help organisations benchmark their models, and to
share best practice
South West Forum’s Impact Hub run training and events and
can provide tailored support

12. Visit our web-site at
www.learning-southwest.org.uk