QUARTERLY BRIEFING no 9 - january 2002

This briefing provides an update on developments in the research in practice network, a creative partnership between the Association of Directors of Social Services, the Dartington Hall Trust, the University of Sheffield and over 60 participating local authorities and voluntary child care organisations.

Our mission is to support these agencies and the wider child care community in their determination to become more research minded as they strive to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families.

during the last 3 months

The research in practice website has been rebuilt and enlarged to make it easier to navigate and to accommodate many new features for  Partners and Members. They include audiotape transcripts, an improved  Register of Researchers and an 'EvidenceBank' of evaluations of child welfare research, reviews and overviews. There are workshop and symposia summaries, cut-and-paste enabled text of our latest peer-reviewed research review on Parental Problem Drinking, and an expanded and annotated Links section giving easy access to other sites relevant to Evidence Based Practice. Visitors can now order our publications on-line. Links to the site are available from a range of other sites including the ADSS and eLSC.

it's teams that make the difference

Changing culture requires the combined efforts of groups - most especially of the variety of teams that come together to plan and provide services. To support the move to more creative and productive collaboration, we have sent six copies  of our REAL Evidence Based Practice in Teams Action Pack to each Partner agency for road testing and also to Barnardo's, the NCVVCO and the Family Centres Network. Generous financial support from the Nuffield Foundation has made it possible to test the Pack thoroughly before revising it for a wider audience in 2003. Supporting training and 'buddying' will allow us to find out how feasible it is for progress of this kind to be made without outside help.

a growing network - with support and QA systems to match

research in practice looks upon its staff group as a support resource for a network of agencies who want to improve outcomes for children by working together to improve the knowledge base and the use of research. As the network expands, we are taking on new staff to provide better targeted support: Ben Hermer has joined us as Website Administrator, Cathy Hicks is our new Clerical Assistant, and four more staff will join us over the next two months. We are also delighted to have increased support on our Management Board: at its December meeting ADSS Executive approved the nominations of Bernard Walker (Wigan), Jo Williams (Cheshire) and Simon Westwood (AD, Children & Families, Birmingham). Ann Hagell (co-Director of the Policy Research Bureau) has joined as a Professional Advisor and we are using PQASSO (Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations) to audit and improve our own internal systems.

development opportunities

Since this year's Learning Events programme started in September over 300 places have been provided at research workshops dealing with: disabled parenting, permanent family placement, multi-agency team working, accommodation for adolescents away from home, the Webster-Stratton parenting programme, and the impact of parental drug misuse on children. Other topics include implementing research through supervision, through training, and through direct work with children and families, using the Matching Needs and Services audit and evaluation framework, and a linked series on developing the necessary organisational support for evidence based practice.

improved research reviews, too

Our latest research review Problem Parental Drinking and its Impact on Children by Jo Tunnard heralds an important step forward in the quality of research in practice products. It is the first to have been peer-reviewed by a wide range of academics and practitioners. It has been commissioned on the basis of what Partner agency staff say is most needed on the front line. Consignments of free copies have been mailed to all Partner and Member agencies and all full ADSS members will also receive a copy. A sequel next summer will consider the impact on children of parental drug misuse.

networking

Opportunities for discussing agency progress towards evidence based practice have been provided in various ways: for example, through contributions to conferences and training sessions in Coventry, London, Plymouth, Reading, Somerset, at the Social Services Conference in Harrogate, and at a partnership conference in London with The Kings Fund, ADSS, MCC journal and Pavilion Publishing.

in the next 3 months.

NIFTY ( Neat Informative F easible T imely Y ours) evaluation - helping with single service evaluations

Collaboration with the National Children's Bureau's Research and Evaluation department is enabling us to respond to our Partner agencies' request for help in developing  evaluation strategies for local services - those they deliver directly and those they commission. Such evaluation work is seen as increasingly necessary but it has often to be conducted by non-research staff. Starting in January, seven Partner agencies are embarking on a 12-month Development Project. They will be supported throughout the process - from designing their research question to using the results to inform policy and practice. Materials and tools used during the project will subsequently be posted on the website for all Partner agencies to test. For more information contact  research in practice's Research Manager, Rose Hunt at rose@rip.org.uk

website assistance

We are as determined to enable your staff to use the internet as we are to deliver a relevant, user-friendly website of our own. We will be piloting a new guide to the research in practice site in Cheshire and will then deliver it to all Partner and Member agencies as a PowerPoint and Web-based download. Copies of a related Newsposter and Desktop guide will also be sent to all agencies in the research in practice

research in practice network.

quality standards for learning events

research in practice has a good reputation for high-quality, research focused  workshops, symposia, seminars and conferences. To ensure standards are maintained and improved we have instituted Quality Standards. From February 1st they will set out clear targets for our facilitators and for research in practice support staff - to ensure participants receive good preparation, presentation and content at all Learning Events.

supporting evidence based practice

research in practice director Celia Atherton has joined the Editorial Board of MCC, a journal previously aimed at adult services now expanding to include children and families. MCC aims to join the small ranks of practitioner-friendly peer-reviewed journals that are committed to the highest standards of evidence and services. An article by Celia on research in practice's aims and methods will appear in the February issue. We have negotiated a very favourable subscription offer for Partner and Member agencies - of one-third normal price.

more briefings

Three more Quality Protects Research Briefings are in draft and out for peer-review - on Adoption, Disabled Children, and Youth Offending. At least one should be mailed to all Local Authorities before Easter. A further three drafts are expected by Easter - on Leaving Care, Physical Health of Young People, and Race and Ethnicity.

learning events September 2002 - July 2003

Planning  is underway for a new Learning Events programme that will provide another 1,000 places at our specialist workshops, modules and symposia - looking at research messages, at Partner agency exemplars of evidence based service developments, and at what we are beginning to know about how to implement research successfully. If you have specific suggestions for topics that you would like to see included in this programme, please contact  Anne Atkinson at a.atkinson@sheffield.ac.uk

tell us

If you have other comments or suggestions, please contact Celia Atherton in Dartington, or one of the directors on the Management Board: Rob Hutchinson (Portsmouth), Julie Jones - Chair (Westminster), Bernard Walker (Wigan), Jo Williams (Cheshire) or Penny Thompson (Sheffield).

for more information about joining the research in practice network or any other matter please contact:

Celia Atherton at research in practice
Blacklers, Park Road
Dartington, Totnes TQ9 6EQ
tel: 01803 867692  email: celia@rip.org.uk

or research in practice
Children and Families Research Group
Elmfield
University of Sheffield S10 2TU
tel: 0114 222 6484  email: rip@sheffield.ac.uk