Challenging disadvantage the final evaluation report of Barnardo s Anti-Poverty Strategy Summary

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1 Challenging disadvantage the final evaluation report of Barnardo s Anti-Poverty Strategy Summary Authors: Trish Traynor and Gill Davidson Published: 2001 About this report "Evaluation is telling how and why an initiative works" (Weiss, 1995). In this, the final evaluation report of Bamardo's National Anti-Poverty Strategy: the reader is offered an overview of the findings of a four year evaluation exercise undertaken to address the question: "Is it possible to make a significant and lasting difference to the lives of children in a disadvantaged community by linking community members and relevant partner organisations to address all aspects of the perceived disadvantages?" The report contains a resume of: The background and framework of the Anti-Poverty Strategy The work and achievements of the pilot initiatives (Tullycarnet Family Project, Belfast; Ley Hill Scheme, Birmingham; Hartcliffe Anti-Poverty Scheme, Bristol; Children's Inclusion Partnership, Glasgow; Oldham Sure Start Scheme: Swings and Roundabouts, Rotherham: Hendon Anti- Poverty Strategy, Sunderland and Tonyrefail Action Scheme) established to address the task of making a difference to the lives of children in the community The answers to the research questions highlighted for specific evaluation The main lessons learned by the work and experience of the pilot initiatives as highlighted through the evaluation exercise over the last four years. Following on from this, a section on 'The Model versus the Reality" describes what actually happened in practice as opposed to the rhetoric of Barnardo's Anti-Poverty Strategy To complete the evaluation exercise the question is posed, "Was it worth it?" followed by "Reflections" from the development staff: Finally, there is an overall "Conclusion" and a brief statement on "What happens next?" Barnardo's Anti-Poverty Strategy Background Barnardo's has a long association with working to improve the circumstances of children in need. It has identified poverty as a contributing factor to the many problems faced by families in the United Kingdom, and the majority of its current services seek to address the impacts of poverty and social exclusion. 1

2 Planning for a national anti-poverty strategy began with the Barnardo's paper 'Challenging Disadvantage' (Hughes and Doble, 1994), which highlighted the need for an explicit and strategic approach to alleviating the effects of poverty in a more fundamental and lasting way. This need was reinforced by the results of 'Moving Forward', a large-scale staff consultation exercise carried out within Barnardo's. The findings of the third European Poverty Programme (Gaffikin and Morrissey 1994, Breitenbach and Erskine 1994, Duffy 1994) emphasised the potential for making a major impact on the quality of life of a community through a comprehensive regeneration programme. Distinctive Elements There were a number of distinctive elements which set the new Strategy apart from Barnardo's general approach to dealing with poverty: The Strategy was to be a time-iimited activity lasting five years A pilot initiative would be located in each of the eight Child Care Divisions in the United Kingdom, all in geographically defined areas that were known to suffer high levels of deprivation Each pilot initiative was to have access to an equal and limited amount of Barnardo's funds A community development approach would be used. This has been described as 'working with people in a way which starts with their own perceptions of their needs and then organising with them to meet those needs in appropriate ways' (Craig, 2000). Particular emphasis would be placed on the principles of participation, partnership and multidimensionality. In keeping with Barnardo's commitment to improving the situation of children in need, emphasis would also be placed on effecting positive change in the lives of children and young people in each of the host communities. In addition to this localised approach, there would also be a national Anti-Poverty Strategy Steering Group to oversee local progress and co-ordinate wider developments. Members of the steering group would ensure that the work of each pilot was appropriate to its host community and that the lessons learned through each pilot's work contributed to the national Strategy The steering group would also consider the Strategy's potential for campaigning and raising awareness on different aspects of poverty. Finally the Anti-Poverty Strategy was to be an experimental initiative. An essential component of the work was a systematic evaluation of the work over a four-year period to assess what had been achieved using this model. Underlying Principles The following Anti-Poverty Strategy principles were common to existing community work and community development projects within the organisation: Participation -working with the people living in the community Partnership -working with the community and other organisations 2

3 A focused approach with clear geographical boundaries A needs-based approach, responding to personal, social and economic needs as identified by local residents Realistic -working to alleviate rather than eliminate disadvantage. In addition, the Anti-Poverty Strategy also included the underlying principles of Explicit and marked impacts on communities, especially in relation to children Shared responsibility with partnership organisations National and local sharing of learning experiences. Evaluation The key question to be addressed by the evaluation of the Anti-Poverty Strategy was: Will such a model of working deliver value to the child? Underlying this was the question: How can we tell? It was important for Bamardo's to be clear about what its contribution to pilot activities would be, in order that achievements could be assessed relative to this contribution. In essence, Barnardo's would contribute limited funding but also, crucially, it would offer extensive past experience in community development, childcare and strategic collaboration. There were several options regarding a focus for evaluation. Reference to the experience of others involved in evaluating community development and anti-poverty work (Gaffikin and Morrissey 1994, McKendrick et al. 1996) helped to clarify an appropriate perspective. It was agreed that the first priority was to chart achievements at a local, individual pilot scheme level; secondly to assess how each local initiative fed into the joint UK learning experience and subsequent national work; and thirdly to look at Barnardo's contribution in the context of partnership work. Consequently and with reference to the model for the Strategy, the following research questions were identified: 1. Is it possible to make a significant and lasting difference to the lives of children in a disadvantaged community by linking community members and relevant partner organisations to address all aspects of the perceived disadvantage? 2. What features of such a venture would contribute to its success or failure? 3. What is the distinct contribution of the voluntary sector to the initiative? 4. What can a children's organisation such as Barnardo's contribute? 3

4 To provide a starting point for evaluating progress, certain baseline information was required. This was drawn from sources including the initial project proposals for each pilot scheme, and included evidence of need in each of the host communities, details of the form the work would take, and initial aims and objectives. To further develop the framework for evaluation, it was agreed that a Theory of Change' approach (Connell and Kubisch, 1996) would be used. This traces the connection between intended outcomes and the means of achieving those outcomes, enabling initial pilot objectives to be measured against what is actually achieved over a period of time. The work to be undertaken by the evaluation team fell into four distinct stages: The production of a community profile, based on the collation of material from existing sources Constructing joint goals with pilot staff and other key stakeholders, laid out over the time the initiative was intended to last Observing the process of activity Appraising outcomes: periodically reviewing achievements in relation to the initial objectives. A major consideration for the evaluation was that it would be undertaken using the same community development principles as the overall Strategy. This would ensure that evaluation was an empowering process for the people involved, and that the outcomes would feed appropriately into future developments. Getting Started Barnardo's Executive and Finance Committee gave agreement in March 1994 for the Anti-Poverty Strategy to proceed. Each Child Care Division was then invited to submit a proposal to establish their pilot initiative. The first outline proposal was from the North East Division and this was accepted in August 1994 (although it was subsequently amended for a variety of reasons and actually established in August 1996). The last of the eight initial proposals was submitted and accepted in March Conclusion In response to the demonstrated need for an explicit and strategic approach to alleviating the effects of child poverty in a more fundamental and lasting way (Hughes and Doble, 1994), Barnardo's launched its national Anti-Poverty Strategy in As the Anti-Poverty Strategy draws to a conclusion in 2001, the main question is whether or not this strategic model of working delivered value and made a significant and lasting difference to the lives of children? The findings of the four years of extensive and systematic evaluation of the Strategy give many detailed examples of the substantial developments achieved by the pilot initiatives established to 4

5 undertake the strategic work within defined local communities throughout the UK. These achievements, illustrated within the evaluation, represent the judgements of the evaluators, which in turn are strongly reinforced and complemented by the views and perceptions of the main stakeholders, (children, parents, partner agencies and staff) as evidenced in the third evaluation report (Traynor and Davidson, 2000). Overall, the findings recorded in four evaluation reports indicate that the strategic model has worked and that work has been effective. As a result, the answer to the underlying question of the Strategy itself, "is it possible to make a lasting and significant difference to the lives of children in a disadvantaged community by linking community members and relevant partner organisations to address all aspects of the perceived disadvantages?" is, in the views of all those involved, an undeniable, evidence based affirmative- YES! To order a full report To purchase a copy of the full report please contact: Barnardo's Publications, Barnardo's Trading Estate, Paycocke Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3DR Tel: Fax: Or your order stating the title of the publication(s) together with your full name, billing address and contact telephone number to: jo.barnes@barnardos.org.uk 5