crossroads association and princess royal trust for carers applied policy and practice research unit
TRANSCRIPT
CrossRoads Association and Princess Royal Trust for Carers
Applied Policy and Practice Research Unit
AgendaPolicy Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU)Aims of the projectMethodologyKey findingsUsing the findings
Who are we?We are a multi-disciplinary team of
evaluators, researchers, economists and ex-practitioners either based at or with links to Manchester Metropolitan University.
We work regularly with a number of partners from the private, voluntary and public sectors.
What do we do?We undertake evaluations and applied research projects for
clients in the public and voluntary sectors. We specialise in:
Impact evaluationsEconomic evaluationsEvaluations of new policy initiatives
The sectors we do most work in are:Criminal justiceCrime reductionLegal adviceYoung people’s servicesSubstance misuse
Aim of the researchAssesses the economic impact of Young Carer’s
interventions that are targeted on Young Carers affected by parental substance misuse and parental mental health problems. Research has established that the implications of being a
young carer include the risk of truancy, under achievement, isolation, mental and physical ill health, poverty and stress.
Risks particularly acute for young people affected by parental substance misuse (250,000 young people in the UK), parental alcohol misuse (1·3m young people) and parental mental health problems (4·2m parents).
The extra outcome achieved by the intervention compared with an alternative interventions
The economic value of these outcomes
The extra cost of implementing the intervention compared with an alternative interventions
We’ll estimate this by looking at published research (Rapid Evidence Assessment)
Data on the values of different outcomes such as school exclusion already exists
Gather information from site visits
Logic modelWorking with stakeholders at a national, regional and project level the project team map out the logic model underpinning the intervention ie what outcomes it is expected to achieve and how is it expected to achieve them.
Costing the interventionsVisits to case study sites will be undertaken to undertake a bottom-up costing of the interventions.
Evidence reviewExisting research and evaluation evidence is then reviewed using agreed criteria that defines how robust evidence must be to be included and allows for the review process to be replicated if it is repeated in the future.
ModellingA model is constructed that is shaped by the logic model and populated with data from the review process.
Stakeholder validationKey assumptions in the model can be tested and validated with stakeholders to ensure that there is a high degree of ‘sign-up’ to the outputs from the project.
This is where the bulk of the project resource will be focused
Outcome domain Short-term manifestations Long-term manifestationsCaring Reducing burden of care on young person
Improved care provision for the family from statutory services
Education and training
Reduced truancy from school
Improved school attendance
Reduced school exclusion
Attendance of vocational training
Increased qualifications
Increased chance of employment
Less benefit claims
More tax paidMental health Reduction in incidence of self-harming Reduction in incidence of poor mental
healthPhysical health Reductions in injuries or chronic
conditions associated with heavy liftingReductions in teenage pregnancy
Reductions in teenage fatherhoodChild protection Reductions in ‘looked after’ children Social exclusionOffending Reduction in offending Reduction in offendingSubstance misuse Reduced substance misuse Reduced substance misuseBehavioural Improved personal hygiene
Improved anger management
Improved social skills
Improved self-esteem as manifest by ability to form and sustain successful relationships with friends/partners/spouses
Rapid Evidence AssessmentThe Government Social Research website describes a REA as:
“ . . . a tool for getting on top of the available research evidence on a policy issue, as comprehensively as possible, within the constraints of a given timetable. . . . REAs provide a balanced assessment of what is already known about a policy or practice issue, by using systematic review methods to search and critically appraise the academic research literature and other sources of information.“ www.gsr.gov.uk/new_research/archive/rae.aspm
Key stages in an REAAgreed search strategy rigorously followed (eg defined
search terms, list of databases and publications that will be searched)
Criteria set for data quality and only data that meets criteria is included in the synthesis
A REA report will provide overview of what evidence is saying. Sometimes data synthesis is undertaken if data being reviewed is quantitative and sufficient studies of an agreed methodological quality exist to make such an approach possible.
REA outputsThe first search identified 1329 studies of which 81 were
retrieved.No papers met theoretical and quality criteria
The second search
Young Carers' Intervention
Reduction in probability of being
taken into care
Improved school attendance
Improved physical & mental health, e.g. confidence,
self esteem
Reduction in offending
Improved
employment prospects
Longer term improvements
in health e.g. reduced teenage
pregnancy rate
Reduction in costs of crime
Increase in tax payments
Breaking of misuse “cycle”
Reduction in benefit dependence
CostsWhat is covered? Key findingSet-up costs eg:
Equipment (e.g. computers, activity equipment, mini-bus)
Staff recruitment costs Running costs eg:
Staff (FTEs)Volunteers (FTEs)Steering groupAccommodation (rent)
The average cost of an intervention per capita is £2,500.
ImpactWe estimate that young carers’ projects have a 11 per
cent impact on reducing truancy among the young carers they work with.
We estimate young carers’ projects have a 1 per cent impact on reducing the risk of the young carers with whom they work being taken into local authority care.
We estimate that young carers’ projects have a 2·5 per cent impact on reducing the risk of the young carers they work with from becoming teenage parents.
SavingsCost Base Potential Saving per capita
Appropriate caring £7,827
Cost of Local Authority Care
Direct Cost £13,650
Extra Tuition £2,424
Risk of becoming NEET £34,500 £50,574
Improved Schooling £47,931
Reduced risk of teen pregnancy £130,405
Key findingsFor every pound invested in a Young Carers’ project the
saving to society is £6.72. A project working with 50 young carers a year would
have to do one of the following to justify its funding (i.e. ‘break even’):prevent truancy occurring or the taking into LAC of 3 young
carers who would otherwise have been at risk; orprevent one young person at risk of becoming a teenage
parent from becoming a teenage parent.