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SPACE - Supporting Parents and Children Project

Social Return on Investment Final Report December 2017

Prepared by: Nancy Brown

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Social Return on Investment report covers the Supporting Parents and Children Project supported

by The Big Lottery Fund. For the purpose of the study only four programmes within the project were

considered for the Social Return on Investment piece as they were the easiest to measure and created

the most impact. The four projects of the programme included in this study is SpaceWalk, Facts and

Fun Family Day, Mindfulness Summer camp and Speed Networking for agencies.

Jakna has utilised the Social Return on Investment (SROI) principles and methodology to develop the

final evaluation report of Supporting Parents and Children Project, covering a study period of one year.

The Social Return on Investment (SROI) model uses monetary value to represent the social outcomes

of the programme. This report looks at stakeholders, the outcomes and determines the Social Return

on Investment value the programme provides. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods

were used to collate relevant information to carry out the evaluation with stakeholder engagement

at the centre. This study identifies Walk main inputs, outputs and outcomes, as they relate to the

identified stakeholders, and are further outlined in the Input/output model in Figure 1 below:

Inputs (What stakeholders invested in the programme over the period of the analysis)

Activities (What was delivered by SPACE)

Outputs (What was achieved through these activities)

Outcomes (The impact of Walk on the stakeholders and the change that they experienced;

this includes changes that are positive, negative, intended and unintended)

Figure 1: Input / Output Model

This report looks at how the stakeholders have benefited from the programme to date and found that

for every £1 invested the programme £8.20 of social value is created.

INPUT ACTIVITY OUTPUT

OUTCOME IMPACT

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 4

1.1 Overview of SPACE ........................................................................................................................ 4

1.2 Aims & Achievements of the Project ............................................................................................ 5

2. Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 9

2.1 Social Return on Investment ......................................................................................................... 9

2.2 Stakeholders ............................................................................................................................... 10

3. Results ......................................................................................................................................... 12

3.1 Overall Results ............................................................................................................................ 12

3.2 Findings and Impact .................................................................................................................... 13

3.2 Impact on Young People involved............................................................................................... 16

3.3 Parents of Participants of both SpaceWalk and Mindfulness Summer Scheme ........................ 19

3.4 Impact on Agencies/Organisations ............................................................................................. 22

4. Calculating Impact ............................................................................................................................. 24

4.1 Discount Rates ............................................................................................................................ 24

4.2 Sensitivity analysis ...................................................................................................................... 25

5. Conclusions & Recommendations .................................................................................................... 26

5.1 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 26

5.2 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 27

5. Appendices ........................................................................................................................................ 28

Appendix One: SROI Principles and Guidelines ................................................................................ 28

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1. Introduction

1.1 Overview of SPACE SPACE began life in a small terraced house in Thomas Street ,Warrenpoint in 2003 after a consultation with local people identified the need for family support throughout rural South Down. SPACE stands for Supporting People And Communities Every day. Originally known as South Down Family Health Initiative, (SDFHI) and funded by the SHSCT, and the Big Lottery the organisation grew with an increased demand for their services to be delivered over a much wider area until the decision was taken to move our administrative centre to Newry and rebrand to encompass the wide range of work that we cover. Whilst no longer based in Warrenpoint their passion to support the people in the South Down region remains the same. SPACE’s main aim is to reach out to individuals and families in need, helping them find strengths, overcome difficulties and build better futures. Services are flexible, and innovative; they believe in the strengths within families and are committed to working in partnership to achieve maximum impact for all. SPACE Family Support Services are for families and individuals who need help. Family life is not always easy, life events like birth, death, depression, redundancy, separation, illness, abuse or financial problems all put stress and strain on family life and relationships. SPACE’s work can be very practical – help with transport, homework clubs, parenting programmes, practical help with childcare/household management or may involve a range of more complex help where situations are more challenging. There are 3 main elements to SPACE’s work: Supporting Parents and Children Space is the lead organisation for the Newry and Mourne Family Support Hub (FSH) where they work in partnership with a range of statutory and voluntary organisations to identify solutions for families facing challenges. Referrals to the family support hub can include families or individuals requiring support to cope with physical and mental health problems, family breakdown, parenting difficulties, financial problems and social and rural isolation. In addition to the FSH coordination, they also undertake in-depth home based assessments to explore needs and maximise access to services benefits and grants for a range of people. Space also provides local and trust wide representation on services and planning groups that influence opportunity for children and young people in their area, this includes undertaking lead body status for the Kilkeel Sure start project and being part of the Southern Outcomes board of the children and young people’s services project CYPSP. Their work now reaches throughout the Southern Health and Social Care Trust as well as the Newry Mourne and Down Council Areas and includes parenting support, community education, parenting training and activity clubs and sessions. Supporting People and Communities Space is also keen to maintain community based service within the South Down area and will continue to provide (resources permitting) a range of health promotion and community wellbeing activities to support older people, newcomer families and government initiatives such as Sure start.

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Throughout the greater SHSCT area, Space will endeavour to provide access and signposting opportunity to community based activities and hope to develop an online community services directory that will become a useful resource for all on community activity and support. Space 2 will focus on developing community based social, advisory and education opportunities particularly for older people, newcomer families and emerging needs. Supporting Potential and Community Enterprise Their social enterprise – Love your Space (LYS) provides an additional income stream so that they can be flexible and responsive when a referral or a request falls outside the criteria of a particular project or service. Social enterprises are community based businesses that trade to tackle social problems, improve communities, or improve people’s lives or the environment. Love your Space generates income from selling donated and up-cycled goods in the Monaghan Street Shop and they are always on the lookout for good quality household goods, clothing and bric a brac. Occasionally at Love your Space they are asked to organise a call to action, this can involve asking the public to help source furniture/carpet/ or a pram for example. Love your Space also provides a limited number of supported volunteer and training opportunities for those returning to work after ill health, or for those with additional needs in a funky creative retail facility. Make sure not to forget Love your Space when clearing your house or closet out, they love getting to up-cycle everyday items.

1.2 Aims & Achievements of the Project This report specifically determines a Social Return on Investment for the main aims of the Supporting Parents and Children Project funded by Big Lottery which includes:

Practical family support

Making information accessible for parents

Making services and linking agencies together to increase joint up work

Four main programmes within the project were considered for this Social Return on Investment report including SpaceWalk, Facts and Fun Family Day, Mindfulness Summer camp and Speed Networking for agencies. More details of each specific programme are listed below: SpaceWalk Through SPACE’s 1-1 work they identified a trend with young boys who were displaying challenging and risk taking behaviours. In response they developed the SpaceWallk programme. Following a period of 1:1 work which helps identify the child's interests, fears, triggers, they progress onto a tailored programme of physical activity and challenges. They were asked to take risk, trust adults, trust each other, show leadership, show respect, listen to instructions etc., developing life skills to help them integrate more fully with their family, peers and school. Aims: Participation in each of the eight activities supported the boys in the achievement of an appropriate Aim devised to reflect the life skills or qualities the boys were demonstrating by completing the outdoor pursuits challenges. The design requires the Aims should be SMART aims- (specific, measurable, agreed, realistic, time bound). Four basic aims were pre-set for Activity 1, and an appropriate Aim was to be added for each subsequent Activity.

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Inclusivity: The programme is designed to be inclusive of all of its participants. It was challenging but achievable for all of the boys at all times.

Gradual Progression: The delivery sequence of the programme represented a gradual progression. The activities became gradually and progressively more challenging, and the aims- more ambitious. Each aim and each activity should be informed by and build upon the capacity demonstrated by the group to that point.

Formative Aspect: This ‘formative aspect’ of the programme is described in the process, which identifies, agrees and delivers the eight activities and the seven aims, which remained to be confirmed.

Choice: The programme should include an element of choice for the boys. This is to promote their ownership of -and -responsibility for the programme and their own experience.

Debrief: Each activity is immediately followed by a debriefing session. The debrief serves two primary purposes: to review the Activity and bring out the learning from it, and to prime the group for the next Activity, by having them vote on the choices for that Activity.

Speed Networking – This was an agency event to build up networks within the community but also to raise awareness of what is available. Agencies find that time is a challenge as staff are busy delivering services and providing client facing programmes. This event allowed organisations to meet each other, understand what is available and reach out to people from other organisations. Representatives from a wide range of agencies met each other to share and learn about each other’s services. Each agency had 3 minutes to tell the audience about what they provide. Each agency also set up stands and time was allocated for networking at the start. Then each agency had their 3-minute presentation and lunch was provided so people could continue to network and make contacts. Facts and Fun Family Day This event brought together agencies that were involved in the Speed Networking that are appropriate and invite young people and their parents. This day involved bouncy castle and face painting and parents have time to link into the appropriate agencies. Only those agencies that deliver direct services to families were invited. This provided a chance for families and agencies to connect and meet each other. SPACE put on a family friendly event with bouncy castles and face painting so that while the children were being entertained it allowed for the parents to talk to relevant agencies that can provide additional support and services. Mindfulness Summer Scheme This was a week long summer scheme for 8 young people – some of which have never been involved in summer schemes before. This allowed young people who have been marginalised or excluded to be involved in a summer camp. 1.3 Context “There has been a decline in our children’s emotional and behavioural development, which is to say on average our children are less happy and less well–behaved than in previous generations.” (Collishaw, S. et. al., 2004)1. SPACE understands the importance of development of children and young people. SPACE also believes in building the family up and working on relationships between the children and parents. SPACE is 100% committed to supporting and empowering families.

1 Collishaw, S. Maughan, B., Goodman, R., Pickles, A. (2004) Time trends in adolescent mental health. Child Psychol Psychiatry. Nov;45(8):1350-62.

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“Families have less to live on, there are fewer jobs, and there is more stress in the typical household. Many could do with a little more support, some a lot more” (Little and Sodha, 2012, p. 1).2 SPACE also realises the importance of not only building up the young people and children but also supporting parents and helping them develop skills and strategies to deal with their children and provide them support. It is helpful to distinguish between prevention and early intervention. Prevention is stopping the problem happening in the first place; early intervention is getting in at the first signs of trouble; and treatment – responding once what could go wrong, has gone wrong. “There is huge untapped potential in public services to shift the balance of expenditure from reactive treatment to prevention and early intervention. The benefit should be to serve more children better, and with less resource” (Little and Sodha, 2012 p.27)3. There is a huge savings to make by improving children’s lives during early intervention especially those as risk of isolation and antisocial behaviour. This will save money in the long run and provide young people with a positive future. The Children and Young People’s Strategy 2017-2027 is the Northern Ireland Executive’s newest plan for making life better for children and young people in Northern Ireland. The strategy is aligned with SPACE’s work with young people and what they are trying to achieve with their programmes. The 8 main aims of the strategy for children and young people include:

Every child and young person has the best possible physical and mental health by making

sure that children and young people get the help they need at an early stage.

Have the time and space to enjoy rest and fun activities.

Have an education that will help them to learn to do as much as they, do what they are good at, and be themselves.

Are protected from being harmed in any way. This includes being hurt, badly treated, neglected or taken advantage of.

Have enough money to live on, so that they get what they need to grow in every way.

Are able to say what they think and feel about things that will affect them, and their views are listened to.

Are told about their rights

Make sure that all children and young people are treated equally. It does not matter what their race, language or religion is, or who their family are. Children and young people should not be treated badly because they are a male or female, because of what they are able or unable to do, or for any other reason

The SPACE programmes are closely aligned to the Strategy for Children and Young People. They are actually reaching some of the hardest to reach children and families. Some are isolated from their community and do not feeling connected or supported. The services provided by SPACE through the Supporting Parents and Children programme addresses that lack of connection, does not judge families but provides real support that can make a difference.

2 Little M. and Sodha, S. (2012) Prevention and early intervention in children’s services. NESTA 3 Little M. and Sodha, S. (2012) Prevention and early intervention in children’s services. NESTA

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For some of the children they are not involved in any activities because their behaviour deters them from being able to get involved. This puts an extra strain on the family, especially the parents. From a cost benefit analysis preventative and early intervention services are much cheaper than if these young people become more involved with social services, the criminal justice system and if they need separate schooling due to behaviour. Early intervention allows for the decreased likelihood of going down those routes that will cost the public purse much more money than preventative and early intervention services. Family breakdown is another potential occurrence due to the stress that children are causing in the families. It is cheaper to keep a child in his home than it is to put him in care. Mental health problems in young people can result in lower educational attainment (for example, children with conduct disorder are twice as likely as other children to leave school with no qualifications) and are strongly associated with behaviours that pose a risk to their health, such as smoking, drug and alcohol abuse and risky sexual behaviour.4 Social and emotional skills, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making, are fundamental to children’s health, wellbeing and future success, including their educational attainment.5 Emotional wellbeing and self-esteem in childhood are strongly associated with good mental health in adulthood. Children’s social skills, self-control, self-regulation and self-efficacy also appear to be important to adult mental health and wellbeing.6 Like cognitive capabilities, social and emotional skills are malleable. They can be taught and developed throughout childhood, adolescence and beyond. Research also indicates that some social and emotional skills lay the foundation for later skill development.7 The SPACE programmes focus on developing the social and emotional skills of young people and children as well as those of the parents. The children are a route for accessing the parents. The services of SPACE build resiliency in individuals and resiliency within the family. This increases bonds between children and parents whilst improving relationships. Parents are learning new skills and improving their ability to deal with difficult behaviour. SPACE allows people to feel ok with their situation and helps them build long term solutions and more happiness within individuals and within family homes. This leads to better outcomes for individuals and for families. Children and young people are becoming happier and more positive about their future. They are more in control of their behaviour and parents feel better about their future.

4 Department of Health (2015). Future in Mind: Promoting, protecting and improving our children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, UK. 5 Goodman, A. et. al. (2015) Social and emotional skills in childhood and their long term effects on adult life. Cabinet Office. Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission 6 Goodman, A. et. al. (2015) Social and emotional skills in childhood and their long term effects on adult life. Cabinet Office. Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission 7 Jones, S.M., & Bouffard, S.M. (2012). Social and emotional learning in schools: from programs to strategies: social policy report. Society for Research in Child Development, 26(4), 3-22

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2. Methodology Jakna utilised the Social Return on Investment (SROI) principles and methodology to develop the

evaluation report. This report has looked at the outcomes of each stakeholder group.

2.1 Social Return on Investment SROI is an approach to understanding and managing the value based on a set of principles that are

applied within a framework. Further details about the SROI principles, stages and calculating impact

are included in Appendix 1. SROI seeks to include the values of people that are often excluded from

markets in the same terms as are used in markets; i.e. money, in order to give people a voice in

resource allocation decisions. SROI is a framework designed to structure thinking and understanding.

It is a story, not a number. It is about understanding stakeholders’ journeys to measure the impact

and value for money of the Walk services.

This study identified Walk main inputs, outputs and outcomes, as they relate to the identified

stakeholder, and are further described below and outlined in the Input/output model in Figure 2

below:

Inputs (What stakeholders invested in over the period of the analysis)

Activities (What was delivered by SPACE)

Outputs (What was achieved through these activities)

Outcomes (The impact of activities on the stakeholder and the change that they experienced;

this includes changes that are positive, negative, intended and unintended)

Figure 2: Input / Output Model

Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to collate all relevant information.

Quantitative Data. Quantitative data was provided by SPACE. Questionnaires were also

completed and compiled from the different stakeholder groups. SPACE completes

questionnaires at the completion of the programme for the young people, parents and

agencies.

Qualitative Data. Consultations with stakeholders provided qualitative information, helping

to build a complete and full picture of what actually changed for stakeholders as a result of

SPACE. Focus groups and telephone interviews were utilised.

Social Return on Investment is based on a Theory of Change. The Theory of Change can be depicted

as a map or journey, linking the activities of the project, to the short-term, medium-term and long-

term outcomes experienced by service users, and other stakeholders. Figure 3 below provides an

overview of the journey of change for a range of Supporting Parents and Children project stakeholders.

INPUT ACTIVITY OUTPUT

OUTCOME IMPACT

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The journey incorporates outcomes around mental health, confidence, resiliency, improving

relationships and communication across stakeholder groups including children and young people,

parents, agencies and funders all of whom engaged with SPACE. This is demonstrated through the

range of activities, actions and the changes as a result of stakeholder engagement.

From the overall theory, many direct financial outcomes are generated and the wide-ranging social

changes experienced by beneficiaries linked to the project are highlighted. Theory of change for the

programme is below:

Figure 3: Theory of Change

2.2 Stakeholders

Stakeholders were identified by the SPACE team. Engagement with each stakeholder group

commenced in order to gain a better understanding, measure impact and outcomes of the

programme. When considering the sample group accessed and the number of respondents

throughout the evaluation process, the core principles of SROI have been strictly applied and that the

core questions that affect the quality and relevance of the data gathered were answered:

Who changes as a result of the provision?

How did they change?

How do we know it has changed?

Which changes are most valued?

Is the change all down to SPACE?

Be

fore - Issues in school

- Dealing with potential difficulties

- Potential issues with regards to mental health

- Potential dealings with justice system and social services

- Difficulties managing behaviour

- No involvement in extracurricular activities

- Some may have limited social skills

- Not involved in anyprogrammes and doing nothing in free time

- Relationships strained in family

- Not networking with other agencies

- Not aware of support available

SP

AC

E

Pro

gra

mm

e - Summer Scheme

-

- Mentoring

- Personal development

- Learning softer skills

- Confidence building

- Increasing collaboration

- Sharing of knowledge

- Breaking down barriers

- Learning more about one's self

- Learning to manage own behaviour

- Learning what services are available

- Neworking

- Building connectionsA

fte

r - Improved confidence

- Increased social interaction and socialskills

- Increased opportunites

- More engagment with community and better

connected

- Improvements in mental health

- Less involvement in support services and justice system

- Decreases chances of future engagement with justice system and family breakdown

- Additional training or further education sought

- Feeling more positive about the future

- More open to meeting people and working with people from diverse background

- Better relationships

- More connected

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The stakeholder map below identifies key stakeholders and maps them according to their

power/influence and interest.

Figure 4 -Map of Stakeholders

Table 1 identifies those groups included in the study and provides an overview of how they were

engaged:

Stakeholder Group Reason for Inclusion Engagement Medium

SpaceWalk and Summer Scheme programme participants and families completed evaluation

Beneficiary group in terms of size and project impact.

Focus groups and questionnaires – detailed evaluation by external evaluator for SpaceWalk

Agencies Instrumental in attending agency speed networking and family fun day

Questionnaires and Telephone interviews

Parents Understand the benefit of the programme for the young people and involved in bringing young people to events.

Questionnaires Telephone interviews Focus groups

Table 1: Stakeholder Engagement

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3. Results

3.1 Overall Results

Staff completed a wide range of training to compliment the services provided by SPACE. Training is necessary and enhances programme delivery. Staff completed the following training in Year 1: Induction, First Aid, Child Protection, Child Safety in the Home, Older People Safety in the Home, Strengthening Families (Overview Only), FAST, Understanding ESD and ASIST, Skills for Staying Safe, Incredible Years, Eat Sleep Learn Play, Completing UNOCINI, Family Star, Solihull Approach, Using Puppets to Communicate, What Works in Parenting Masterclass. The following Activities have been completed in year 1:

Mindfulness Summer Scheme - 8 participants

Big Play Bus Fun Day - 240 participants

Big Lottery Launch

2 x Speed Networking (Warrenpoint and Kilkeel)– these events were organised as an

information sharing event for all agencies offering support to families in the area. Over 50

agencies networked at both events.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wduxnurl6tM&feature=youtu.be)

2 x Families Facts and Fun Days (Warrenpoint and Kilkeel) Halloween and Easter– A total of

240 children, 104 parents, and 54 agencies took part in these events, where parents could

speak directly to agencies whilst children took part in fun/educational activities.

Volunteer Training Days x 2 - 10 volunteers

9 week WALK programme for 8-12yrs with a range of emotional, behavioral and learning

difficulties - 8 participants

2xBounce programmes (1 primary and 1 post primary) - 16 participants

4x Steering Group Meetings

Co-facilitated 1 Fast Programme with Save the Children in local primary school - 17 children

Produced video highlighting the services of 1 please copy this link into your web browser

https://vimeo.com/171818120 (password )

For the purposes of this SROI only impact within the Mindfulness Summer Scheme, SpaceWalk, SpeedNetworkingn and Family Fact and Fun Days were included.

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3.2 Findings and Impact

The following section provides a summary of the key findings from the stakeholder engagement and impact measurement process for SPACE to illustrate the SROI figure in the Impact Map but also to offer a rationale for the data used. Full details of all outcomes and their analysis can be found in the Impact Map. However, a summary of the outcomes experienced by the stakeholders is provided below. The range of services provided by SPACE through the Supporting Parents and Children programmes generates a social value of approximately £1:£8.20 over a five year period.

The Outcomes Map below provide a summary on the Impact Value and a breakdown per stakeholder group Figure 5 and Table 2

Summary of Overall Impact

Group Impact value %

Spacewalk and summer scheme participants £271,180 28%

Family/Carer of Young People £263,447 27%

Agencies involved in Networking and Referred to from programme £353,522 36%

Health & Social Care/Justice £22,189 2%

Family Fun Day Participants £73,244 7%

Total £983,583 100% Table 2 - Impact Per Stakeholder 1

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Figure 5 -% of Impact per Stakeholder Group

The Outcomes Framework below outlines the changes for the main stakeholders.

Spacewalk and summer scheme

participants28%

Family/Carer of Young People

27%

Agencies involved in Networking

and Referred to from

programme36%

Health & Social

Care/Justice2%

Family Fun Day Participants7%

SOCIAL VALUE - PER STAKEHOLDER

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Stakeholders Intended/unintended changes Outputs The outcomes (what changes)

Who do we have an effect on?

What do you think changes for them

Summary of activity (quantify)

Indicator Financial proxy Source

How would you measure it?

What proxy would you use to value the change?

Where did you get the information?

SpaceWalk and Summer Scheme Participants

Increased levels of confidence & self-esteem

Outdoor pursuits based Activities to promote the development of positive

attitudes and behaviours in 8 to 11 year boys and children.

Cost of confidence course

Cost of confidence building programme reflecting the value attributed to this improvement

Provision of confidence building course (4 workshops) from Soul Ambition (Belfast)

SpaceWalk Participants

Reduced social isolation (loneliness) and improved relationships

Improvement in engagement and relationships

The value of increased frequency of interaction with friends, relatives, and neighbours

Putting a Price Tag on Friends, Relatives, and Neighbours (Institute of Education, University of London April 2007) £15,500 adjusted for inflation

SpaceWalk Participants

Improved relationships (through social skills & interaction)

Improvement in communication and coping

The value of learning communication skills that helped people feel more confident, improved asking for help & coped better

Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2015 @ £44 per hr x average 15 hr per person in a community care setting or set of counselling sessions

SpaceWalk Participants

Improved levels of mental health & resilience

Improvement in feeling positive

Value of learning more about self and understanding how to deal with own issues

£55 per session (12 sessions recommended by NHS Direct) from BACP Counsellor at Belfast Cognitive Therapy Centre

SpaceWalk Participants

Improved self-awareness and self-management

Improved skills in understanding self and taking responsibilities for behaviour and managing it

Cost of improving skills

£122 per session with Multi-Systemic Therapy practitioner X 8 visits

SpaceWalk Participants

More likely to stay in school Staying in school Cost of sending students to special school

£100 per taxi per day to transport young person (cased on return trip from Kilkeel to Lurgan) and cost of schooling at special school £20K

Parents/ Guardians

Gaining further qualifications/Improved skills

Number of participants that studying further education

Future earnings potential of qualificiations (Level 4 or Higher)

Labour Force Survey, October/December 2010

Parents/ Guardians

Openness to working with others from diverse background

Number of participants more open to others

Cost of diversity training

Diversity Course http://www.diversityni.co.uk/diploma-in-public-service-interpreting-dpsi-belfast-northern-ireland/

Parents/ Guardians

Openness to working with people from diverse background and agencies

More willing to work with people from a variety of backgrounds and agencies

Cost of diversity training

Diversity Course http://www.diversityni.co.uk/diploma-in-public-service-interpreting-dpsi-belfast-northern-ireland/

Parents/ Guardians

Improved confidence More willing to work to speak out and talk to people

Cost of confidence building programme

Provision of confidence building course (4 workshops) from Soul Ambition (Belfast)

Parents/ Guardians

Family relationships Improved family relationships

Value of improved communication that helped better relationships

HACT 'The social value of housing providers' 2013 includes both Fun Day and SpaceWalk families

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Table 2: Outcome Map

3.2 Impact on Young People involved One of the main beneficiaries of Supporting Parents and Children Project are the young people on the

programme. Those on the programme include young people from a diverse background with issues

including:

From disadvantaged communities

Disabilities

Low income homes

Mental health issues

Social Services/Criminal justice involvement

Parents/ Guardians

Improved mental health

As a result of their family member attending, parents experienced improved mental health

Cost of 8 week counselling programme to combat stress & anxiety

£55 per session(8 sessions recommended by NHS Direct) from BACP Counsellor

Agencies Improved efficiency

Through networking time for organisations saved (time & effort) due to meeting with multiple agencies at one time

Cost of staff for a 2 weeks to schedule appointments and meet with all providers individually

Weekly salary for social worker is 653 X 2= £1306 https://www.indeed.co.uk/Social-Work-jobs-in-Belfast

Agencies Upskilling and Training Cost of training for organisations

Cost of workshops

Cost of workshops and youth worker training (1245 for course - http://www.hotcourses.com/careers-advice-uk/broadcast-media-publishing/tv-radio-presenter-careers/ and 150 for youth training http://www.youthlink.org.uk/portfolio-item/certificate-in-youthwork-practice/

Agencies Improved programme ideas

Enhanced programme ideas due to engagement, sharing of ideas and collaboration

Cost of consultant to come in and provide ideas for programmes

Consultant for 1 month period - £3000; http://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/resourcing-talent-planning_2015.pdf

Agencies Increased advertising of agency services

Cost to advertise and reach families

Advertising costs 3 full page ads in the Newry advertiser http://newry-advertiser.com/pricing/

Health and Social Care

Decreased engagement of service users in health and social care

Decreased engagement of service users in health and social care

Decrease in cost of dealing with families

NHS Cost Book 2016 (PRSSU) Health and Social Care Costs lists £54 an hour for a social worker X 24 hours over a 6 month period

Justice and Police

Decreased engagement with justice system

Cost of anti-social behaviour

Cost of antisocial behaviour

Cost of vandalism is £450 per incident plus £204 for costs to services to attend to ASB according to Sturgeon, B. (200 - Antisocial Behaviour in Northern Ireland

Family Fun Day Participants

Increased knowledge and services

More aware of services

Cost of time to meet each individual organisation

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/national-minimum-wage-and-living-wage x 2 weeks to schedule and meet all the agencies

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Low self-esteem

Low confidence

Trouble in school

Behaviour problems

SPACE interventions and supports available enabled young people and parents to identify social

barriers to break these down whilst enhancing the programme in that the young people meaningfully

engage and interface with people from all over their area who without this programme may not have

had any dealings with in the past or in the future. This creates an amazing healthy learning educational

environment for the young people to develop understanding, knowledge, promoting and encouraging

skills development and working as a team. Questionnaires were completed with all the young people

and focus groups were held. This also breaks down barriers to the process of meeting new people,

which can be very challenging for young people that struggle to make friends. Space completed a

detailed evaluation of the project and had an evaluator involved throughout the programme to track

the progress of the young people. Five main themes emerged:

The feedback on SpaceWalk and the Summer Scheme has been outstanding. The following results

were reported:

100% of young people found the service provided helped make a positive change in their life

100% of the young people would recommend SpaceWalk to a friend

100% report improvements in well-being and emotional health

100% report improvements in confidence

100% retention rate with all the young people staying on the programme

As the programme progressed their confidence in their own abilities grew and their horizons widened and a lot of them set more ambitious targets as they recognised the wide number of variable and realistic opportunities available to them.

Social Barriers

Soft Transferable skills

Personal Development

Improved Family Relationships

Better Future

Figure 5: Service Users Outcomes

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By the end of the closing ceremony on June 2nd 2016. seven out of eight boys on SpaceWalk had successfully achieved all 11 of the Aims in this programme, and one of the boys had achieved nine of the eleven aims. The programme generally maintained a very high Rate of Achievement (never lower than 83.3%), and after an aberration at Activity3, the rate increased from activity to activity to the end of the programme. The final Rate of Achievement was 97.7%. All eight boys relied on the flexibility of the programme, in taking more than one attempt to achieve one or some of the aims. Refinements to address issues identified through the delivery of Activities were added to support the boys in Achieving the Aims they had previously missed.

In the focus group with young people they talked about the following differences that stemmed from their experience on the programme. Some of these were engaged during the SpaceWalk activities themselves and are implicit in the achievement of the aims- e.g. boys confronting and overcoming fears of water and heights. Others were engaged by the boy’s social contract with the programme or features of their participation, and these directly engaged the purpose of the programme and the reasons why these boys in particular were eligible

More confident, they felt they pushed themselves and that it has given them a positive

experience that they can leverage for future endeavours, they really proud of what they

have achieved

They tried new activities and are more willing to try new things

Overcame personal fear and obstacles

Achieved greater sense of self-awareness

Developed more positive approaches

Demonstrated more positive attitudes and behaviours

They felt very supportive and had better self esteem

They feel more ambitious and that they “can do it”, they can achieve and they now have

hope for the future and can see where they want to go

They are more resilient and have better mental health

They had fun and met new people who they may have never met – it broke down barriers

and increased their openness to new people from different backgrounds

Improved softer skills of communication

Less isolated and improved relationships

All young people consulted, spoke highly of the programme experience. They highlighted that it developed skills and personal development and the positive difference that it had on their lives. When asked about what they liked the most about the programme the following answers were given:

Flexible learning environment

It was hands on and fun

That you get to try different activities

If you do something wrong, they address it and move on

For some of the young people it was a transformational experience that will have a lasting difference for years to come. Below is feedback from a Summer Scheme participant:

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Figure 6 - Summer Scheme participant feedback

3.3 Parents of Participants of SpaceWalk, Mindfulness Summer Scheme and Fact and Fun Day

Family Facts and Fun Day

This event gave parents a chance to talk to agencies with fewer barriers in a festive and fun environment that did not feel intimidating. It can be difficult for parents to walk into a new office environment with people they do not know to talk to them about their children’s needs. It can be a huge barrier. This event broke down those barriers and provided an environment where it was easy to talk to agencies and there was less feeling of intimidating. The children were also there allowing the agency representatives to meet the children and introduce themselves. SPACE have learnt that it is not enough to give families leaflets and ask them to contact other agencies, families need to be given the opportunity to meet agencies face to face, feedback from Speed Networking and Facts and Fun Days confirms this and we aim to continue rolling these events outs in different towns across our area. Parents and Guardians were consulted to understand the differences in their child from their involvement in the SpaceWalk programme and Summer Scheme and the differences within themselves.

100% of parents reported improvements in the attitudes and behaviours of the boys taking

part in the SpaceWalk programme.

100% of participants on both SpaceWalk and Summer Scheme increased their self-

confidence and self esteem.

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100% of the parents felt that their sons benefited from the SpaceWalk programme and they

would all highly recommend the programme. The differences with their young people

varied but all had seen changes in motivation, resiliency, increased skills, more confident

and improved overall well-being.

110 parents/carers/children reported improvements in their communication and relationships with each other and overall improvement in home living.

70 parents and their children participated in positive parenting, training, activities and supports.

45 parents reported a better understanding of the responsibilities of positively managing a healthier lifestyle.

The importance of the buy-in of the parents and guardians for this outcome is indicated by comment at the focus group- “SPACEWALK: The Whole Story” where one parent commented that- “the hardest part was getting them there” and another “getting them motivated”.

Below are a few quotes from parents.

“He has truly enjoyed the opportunity to attend Space Walk.

Our son completed the whole event and was in attendance

every week, which is an achievement it itself as he has never had

the ability/confidence to do so before. The group has provided him

with a sense of achievement and confidence and the ability to

be proud of himself for achieving something, which is amazing.

Over all this has been a fantastic experience for him and I hope

now he can build on his confidence to had the ability to achieve more

fantastic experiences like this.”

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Figure 7 - Parent's comments

"My wife and I are very proud of the achievements of our

son and what he has achieved from the start of this

programme. For many who look at him you would think he's

a normal fun loving child but for us his family, friends and

teachers know that he has his moments and sometimes

finds it hard to interact with other children at times would

have self-confidence issues and this is where we came to

ask for help and what a help it was.”

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3.4 Impact on Agencies/Organisations

Speed Networking and Family Fact and Fun Day

Feedback was fantastic and it has even been replicated from other groups. These events Identified services that are appropriate and brings agencies together. The event decreases duplication – more efficient and builds community infrastructure, builds communication especially around family support with organisations sharing what works and what does not work. identify unmet need. Increases referrals, partnership building – more confident about going into partnership.

The partnership between the organisations/agencies and SPACE has made a tremendous difference to all organisations. The highlights below represent the findings from feedback from the agencies:

These events promote working relationship with honesty, trust, transparency, they share the

good the bad and the ugly. The organisations value each other’s input and value the strengths

of their respective partners

Barriers have been broken down between both organisations and best practice learning has

been shared along with market intelligence and general knowledge about the needs of those

in the community were shared at the events

One unintended outcome was that some organisations have reported being up skilled or

gaining new ideas by networking and discussing services and needs with other organisations.

This event allowed organisations to start to think more creatively and create new approaches

and services. They have a deeper understanding of the issues the young people face, families

face and the difficulties in their lives.

Parents are more willing to engage with organisations that SPACE introduces to them as it

breaks down barriers and because SPACE is trusted the parents trust the agencies they

introduce.

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Below are a few quotes from service providers/organisations:

“I was able to determine who to contact. I am now able to pass on information to my clients particularly are you aware of this this and this to raise awareness. I found it generally really good to get more information on different things happening and publicising what we are doing and what others organisations are doing especially if under the radar. Really thought that what they were doing is so good in bringing all the organisations together under one roof and to learn about all the different organisations. Even though I have working in the area for a long time there were still organisation I didn’t know about.”

The networking event led to new relationships. Networking is hugely beneficial for people especially from

management who are not always client facing. It allows for getting freshened up and looking at opportunities.

It also allows us to reflect on what we are doing and how we are providing servic

Figure 8 - Agency comments

4. Calculating Impact

4.1 Discount Rates

It is necessary to “discount” the values generated by each of the financial proxies in order to reduce the risk of over claiming and to ensure credibility. The following methods are most commonly used with the SROI model:

Deadweight: An assessment of how much of each of the outcomes would have happened

anyway, without Walk involvement

Displacement: An assessment of how much of each of the outcomes displaced other

activities or outcomes that would otherwise have occurred.

Attribution: An assessment of how much of each of the outcomes was generated by the

contributions of other organisations or people e.g. referral sources, family members etc.

Drop-off: In future years, beyond the period in question, the amount of each outcome that

can be directly attributed to the project will be greatly reduced as it becomes more

influenced by other factors.

Stakeholders

The outcomes

Dea

dw

eig

ht

Dis

pla

cem

ent

Att

rib

uti

on

Dro

p O

ff

Par

ents

an

d G

uar

dia

ns

S

pac

eWal

k an

d

S

um

mer

Sch

eme

1.1 Increased levels of confidence & self-esteem 20% 10% 20% 250

1.2 Reduced social isolation (loneliness) and improved relationships 20% 10% 20% 20%

1.3 Improved relationships (through social skills & interaction) 20% 10% 20% 20%

1.4 Improved levels of mental health & resilience 20% 10% 20% 20%

1.5 Improved self-awareness and self-management 20% 10% 20% 20%

1.6 Staying in school 20% 10% 20% 20%

2.1 Improved skills 20% 10% 20% 2-%

2.2 Openness to working with others from diverse background and agencies

20% 10% 25% 25%

2.3 Improved confidence 20% 10% 25% 25%

2.4 Improved family relationships 25% 10% 25% 25%

A

gen

cies

2.5 Improved mental health 25% 0% 25% 20%

3.1 Improved efficiency 15% 10% 10% 20%

3.2 Upskilling and training 25% 10% 10% 20%

3.3 Improved programme ideas 25% 10% 10% 10%

3.4 Increased advertising of agencies services 10% 10% 20% 20%

25

4.1 Decreased engagement of service users in health and social care 20% 10% 25% 25%

Just

ice

and

Hea

lth

4.2 Decreased antisocial behaviour 20% 10% 25% 25%

Fam

ily F

un

Par

tici

pan

ts 5.1 Increased knowledge of agencies and services 20% 10% 25% 25%

4.2 Sensitivity analysis

Given that the analysis contains estimations and assumptions, it is prudent to review where these decisions have had a significant effect on the overall SROI calculation and to consider, therefore, the assurance that can be placed on such figures.

However, as an evaluative analysis, the study contains confirmed data regarding numbers of service users. As such, research makes extrapolated assumptions on the numbers affected based on the focus groups and questionnaires completed by the group.

The sensitivity analysis explores the impact on the SROI ratio of changing some of the study’s key assumptions. Discount rates thought to be significant were amended to clarify the impact of changing attribution, deadweight or displacement.

Outcome values generated from research methods were adjusted to determine the impact of changing particular values, given that questionnaire results were extrapolated over the full stakeholder group.

The most significant (or sensitive areas) for the analysis relate to:

Young People:

Increase in relationships. If the attribution level was increased to 35% from 20% it would change the SROI ratio to £1 : £8.03.

Agencies:

Through networking time for organisations saved (time & effort) due to meeting with multiple agencies at one time. If the number of weeks goes from 2 to 3 the SROI ratio changes to £1 : £8.71

If cost to advertise and reach families was increased to £2000 (5 full page ads) this would increase the ratio to £1 : £8.79

The sensitivity analysis produces a range of ratios from £1 : £8.03 to £1 : £8.79 by either amending the indicator of the outcome or increasing the discount factors to reduce the proposed impact generated by the services.

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5. Conclusions & Recommendations

5.1 Conclusions This section summarises the key conclusions and messages from the evaluation and sets out recommendations to support the future development of the services provided by Walk. These are drawn from the findings & analysis presented in previous sections of the report.

Stakeholders engaged with Supporting Parents and Children’s programme benefited

significantly from:

Improved mental wellbeing

Improved communication & social interaction

Skill development of both softer skills and outdoor pursuits

Improved levels of confidence, clarity of mind and optimism

More in control of behaviour and self-management

Happier children and parents who are able to cope better

More focused on future and what they want to achieve – feeling more positive

Better relationships with others and within the families with less chance of family

breakdown

This SROI study was extremely conservative with regards to the outcomes for the young

people and did not include the cost of self-harming, suicide, committing a crime, family

breakdown, putting a child in care etc. These are all real potential concerns with the young

people involved and something that may happen down the road if early intervention is not

carried out and their circumstances do not change. SPACE’s services decrease the likelihood

that these young people will go down these paths but ongoing support will be needed to

maintain the young people and keep them on a path for a positive future.

SPACE’s current feedback and engagement on the young people is to be highly commended.

It is also noted that information is shared through informal and natural interactions e.g.

between SPACE and other agencies.

SPACE supports hard to reach groups and offers unique programmes that significantly

develops the individual and the families.

Clear and transparent working with openness has impacted the success of the programme.

SPACE values collaboration and building networks for both the families and the agencies in

the areas in which they work.

Relationship building, networking and information sharing are to be commended and

continued. The entire team from SPACE are driven and committed to making this programme

to be as successful as possible and maintaining relationships with agencies in their area and

building wider community infrastructure

SPACE offers a unique combination of services, which are delivered professionally which

focuses on the needs of service users. The project is built on the trust and belief that change

will occur which will improve lives over the longer term. This trust is then shared with other

organisations to ensure that SPACE is introducing parents and young people to other

appropriate services.

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Due to SPACE’s strong and deep relationship with the parents and young people there is a

natural opportunity to introduce other agencies. In the third sector there is at times the

feeling of protecting your territory. SPACE values the parents/young people accessing all

appropriate services and understanding what is available. Parents are more willing to engage

with other agencies based on their experience with SPACE and the trust that SPACE has built

up with parents and young people. Without SPACE some of the parents and young people

would not access as many other services and/or supports.

5.2 Recommendations

The aim with this report has been to review the services delivered by SPACE’s Supporting Parents and Children programme and understand the difference the project has on its stakeholders. From this, SPACE proposes to be able to see where successes have been made and where to improve to sustain a good level of social return. The recommendations are:

The SPACE team continues to be as dedicated and determined to deliver a unique experience

to the participants and provide a dynamic environment for the young people and their families

SPACE to continue to capture data. Use of additional questions have been added to the

questionnaires to assist with assessing changes and improvements

SPACE continues to evaluate impact measurement as they go along with all partners striving

to continually make improvements to improve the programme and continue to share

information influencing best practice

SPACE to continue to explore additional partnerships

The SPACE team to proactively seek to secure further funding to ensure the potential of the programme is realised and consider crowdfunding

SPACE to explore funding options and approach corporate sponsors, they may want to consider organisations that may be aligned with the outcomes of the programme as part of their CSR.

Explore charging for speed networking events (nominal fee of £30-£40) Consider a social enterprise arm of event marketing for other organisations – this is a real

skill of the organisation’s and the reputation for events is by bar superior and impactful Marketing is a strength of the organisation and could be a skill that is utilised to raise

additional income for other organisations Continue to explore funding streams for the SpaceWalk and ongoing support for parents –

there are significant long term benefits to both the children and parents SPACE to potentially partner with an academic institute and/or research organisation such as

Early Intervention Foundation to publish research on families and young people to continue to raise awareness of the difference early intervention programmes can make on the lives of young people and their families

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5. Appendices

Appendix One: SROI Principles and Guidelines

SROI is an approach to understanding and managing the value of the social, economic and environmental outcomes created by an activity or an organisation. It is based on a set of principles that are applied within a framework.

SROI seeks to include the values of people that are often excluded from markets in the same terms as used in markets, that is, money, in order to give people a voice in resource allocation decisions. SROI is a framework to structure thinking and understanding. It’s a story not a number. The story should show how you understand the value created, manage it and can prove it. SROI is based on the following seven principles:

1. Involve stakeholders Understand the way in which the organisation creates change through a dialogue with stakeholders

2. Understand what changes

Acknowledge and articulate all the values, objectives and stakeholders of the organisation before agreeing which aspects of the organisation are to be included in the scope; and determine what must be included in the account in order that stakeholders can make reasonable decisions

3.Value the things that matter

Use financial proxies for indicators in order to include the values of those excluded from markets in same terms as used in markets

4. Only include what is material

Articulate clearly how activities create change and evaluate this through the evidence gathered

5. Do not over-claim Make comparisons of performance and impact using appropriate benchmarks, targets and external standards.

6. Be transparent Demonstrate the basis on which the findings may be considered accurate and honest; and showing that they will be reported to and discussed with stakeholders

7. Verify the result Ensure appropriate independent verification of the account

More information on SROI can be found at:

The SROI Network including the revised 2012 Guide to SROI 8

What is Social Return on Investment (SROI) 9

New Philanthropy Capital, September 2010, “SROI for funders”,

http://www.philanthropycapital.org

New Philanthropy Capital, April 2010, “SROI position paper”,

http://www.philanthropycapital.org

8 The SROI Guide - www.thesroinetwork.org/publications/doc_details/241-a-guide-to-social-return-on-investment-2012 9 What is Social Return on Investment (SROI) - www.thesroinetwork.org/what-is-sroi