Giving voice to children in family-centred work: co-producing an evaluation framework for the Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities Program

"This interdisciplinary project draws on theory and methods from social policy, social psychology and public health and is conducted in close collaboration with the Race Equality Foundation (REF)'s Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities programme. The aims are to (i) critically review and synthesise evidence on approaches to, and outcomes of, participatory research and co-production initiatives with children and young people (CYP) (with a focus on family support and parenting programmes/services); (ii) work with CYP to co-produce an evaluation framework that embeds CYP's perspectives, (iii) pilot the framework within SFSC to assess feasibility, acceptability and utility, (iv) mobilise the knowledge generated within policy, practice and public stakeholder networks, to explore transferability to settings beyond SFSC.

SFSC was originally adapted from a US model and has been refined and scaled up over time in the UK since 2000. The programme has a core focus on recognising and responding to the challenging and often exclusionary societal context within which Black and Minority Ethnic families live. SFSC has been evaluated positively and has achieved recognition from several national agencies including the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners and the Children's Workforce Development Council. However, aside from some exploratory work, evaluations have to-date focused primarily on parenting outcomes and parental perspectives on outcomes for children. In common with other agencies, REF identifies as a priority the development of better ways to include the voices of CYP in assessing the impact of parenting programmes such as SFSC.

Designed to support the mental wellbeing of CYP and parents via the strengthening of family relationships within a broader community development framework, SFSC lies at the intersection of public health, social psychology and social policy. The project addresses WHC pathway's core goals to tackle inequalities, draw connections between health, inclusion and resilience, and partner with practice communities. The project also links closely to ECY pathway's concern to understand how children and young people are conceptualised and produced through practices and to develop approaches that give them voice. The student will contribute to, and gain development opportunities within, both WHC and ECY.

The project fits with ESRC's mental health priority and supports UoS faculty-level initiatives (Children's Chances; Inclusive Society) and broader initiatives across the WRDTP, notably Inclusive Cities network (Led by Mir at Leeds with Salway and Such as members) and CLAHRC Y&H minority ethnic health (led by Salway and Such, linking to Bradford, Leeds and York).
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