Quarterly Briefing 1
march 1999
This briefing sheet aims to keep you up-to-date with the latest achievements and plans at
research in practice and its 54 member agencies. Together we are working to improve the relevance and use of research in the development of more effective services for vulnerable children and their families.
research directory moves onto the Internet
The Directory, currently on cd-rom, will be available, as the EvidenceBank, on the
research in practice website from 1 April. It includes:
- key publications in full
- summaries and evaluations of quality reserach
- an interactive Register of (child welfare) Researchers including details of subject and methods expertise, and current studies.
The design and content of the EvidenceBank will change and expand considerably over the next two years, assisted by the appointment of a Research and Resources Manager. This website development is funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation . Access to most of the EvidenceBank will be limited to member agencies who will need to register their user name and password. Your password can be obtained from your Link Officer.
workshop programme
The expanded workshop programme ran the first of its 40 workshops in January, and has been received enthusiastically by participants, most of whom are team managers and child care planners. Eighty-five percent of requests for places from member agencies have been successfully allocated and we still have 200 of the total 1,200 places available for member agencies who have not used their maximum allocation of places. Please contact our Sheffield office for further details.
Listening to Research: a new audiotape series
Forty-eight copies of the first in this series of six audiotapes have been sent to your Link Officer. It acts as a general introduction to evidence based practice. The second tape draws together the key research messages about family placement for looked after children and will be sent out in early May. We see this as another means of disseminating research to busy practitioners, many of whom spend a good deal of their working day travelling by car.
any questions?
This is a research study commissioned by
research in practice, supported by the DSS Research Group, and conducted by Carol Tozer from Bournemouth SSD. The study aims to identify practitioner needs for national research studies, and will gather views from all member agencies, which now represent over a third of the social service departments in England. Currently, practitioners and managers have little, if any, purchase on the national research agenda. The results of this study will help to negotiate service-relevant projects with major commissioners of research. Initial findings will be available at the research in practice Directors' Policy Forum on the 6 and 7 July at Dartington. Questionnaires have just been sent to all Link Officers and we hope for a high response rate.
national seminar on commissioning and managing external research
This seminar, held in January, considered each stage of the research process including: framing the question; seeking and evaluating proposals; negotiating contracts; monitoring project progress and making use of the results. The topic is of particular importance given the current policy agenda of Best Value, Quality Protects, and Performance Management. The main papers will be put together as a
research in practice pamphlet and sent to all member agencies in late spring.
new management board meets
The first meeting of the new Management Board took place in January. Its members are: Julie Jones (Chair), Director of Westminster Social Services; Penny Thomson, Director of Sheffield Social services; Ray Jones, Director of Wiltshire Social Services; and Celia Atherton, Director of
research in practice. Roger Bullock (Dartington Social Research Unit) and Peter Marsh (University of Sheffield) are professional advisers to the Board. The Board next meets (together with a Consultation Group) on 6 July.
future events
Official launch of the expanded
research in practicewill take place at a workshop led by Celia Atherton at the ADSS Spring Seminar in Bournemouth at 4.00pm on Thursday 22 April. The workshop will explore the implications for research-based practice of the Quality Protects initiative, the resulting Management Action Plans and the new Performance Management proposals. The audiotape series will be launched at the same time.
elected members' seminar
takes place in Dartington on 12 and 3 May, focusing on research about antisocial behaviour and youth justice. Bookings are coming in quickly. Emphasis will be laid on the corporate nature of responsibilities, and Elected Members and members of governing bodies will be able to hear from lead researchers in this important field.
matching needs and services
is an audit and planning method developed by the Dartington Social Research Unit and in use by an increasing number of Children and Family divisions. research in practice is hosting two seminars to help member agencies explore the value and application of this method: one for the DSRU test sites' on 3 March and a second, on 27 April, in Sheffield, for those new to the method. This latter seminar will be particularly useful to managers and planners who are considering using this approach in their strategic planning, especially in relation to initiatives such as Quality Protects, Best Value and Performance Management.
newsposter
Our spring news poster will be distributed to member agencies through their Link Officers in April. All newsposters have three themes: key messages from research; a spot for member agencies to share experience with other member agencies about evidence-based practice issues: and a section about research on the experience and needs of children and families as service users.
Directors' Policy Forum
takes place at Dartington on the 6 and 7 July. Programme details are being finalised and will be sent to all directors in early May
evaluation of
research in practice
Evaluation of the impact of
research in practiceand its member agencies' strategies to promote evidence based planning and practice will start this autumn. Plans for the first stage are being finalised and are based on the intermediate objectives of
research in practice. The methodology includes:
- impact of workshop content within member agencies
- standard setting, with feedback and bench-marking to member agencies
- the development of an evidence-based team working pack with built-in evaluation
- a tool to monitor organisational commitment to evidence-based practice
- specific small project development work.
This evaluation proposal will be considered by the Management Board in late April and then sent to member agencies for consultation.
for more information
about anything in this Quarterly briefing or any other
research in practicematter please contact
Jo Cooke at
research in practice
Children and Families Research Group, Elmfield
University of Sheffield S10 2TU,
Tel: 0114 222 6484
email: j.m.cooke@sheffield.ac.uk
Celia Atherton at
research in practice
Warren House, Warren Lane
Dartington, Totnes TQ9 6EG,
Tel: 01803 867692
email: celia@rip.co.uk.
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