This presentation will describe the use of a realist evaluation methodology in the context of the evaluation of innovative child sexual exploitation (CSE) services. The evaluation is being conducted by the authors at the University of Bedfordshire, and is funded by CSEFA, the Child Sexual Exploitation Funders’ Alliance. The paper will be structured in three main parts:
First, we will describe the background and aims of the evaluation. The evaluation, which is taking place over four years, is following the establishment and development of 16 innovative child sexual exploitation services across England. Each project is based in a voluntary sector organisation, and is using a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model – this is where the charity recruits and supports workers to provide a specialist child sexual exploitation service in neighbouring areas, where no such service has existed before. These workers (the ‘Spokes’) are employed by the voluntary organisation (the ‘Hub’) but are based out in their new areas, hosted largely by statutory organisations such as Children’s Social Care or the Police; many of the host settings are multi-agency teams. To date, eight services are ‘up and running’, with 2-5 Spokes established at each site; another eight services have newly recruited Spoke workers. Spoke worker roles include individual casework with young people experiencing CSE, consultancy and training with other professionals, and running awareness raising sessions for local organisations.
Second, we will describe why a realist approach was adopted for the evaluation of this ‘Hub and Spoke’ initiative, and how the evaluation has been designed and progressed according to realist principles. Central to our approach is understanding the different contexts into which these 16 services are being developed – including structure and organisational contexts (for example Police forces, Local Authorities, Children’s Social Care), relational contexts (for example between the voluntary sector and statutory organisations locally), and CSE contexts (for example types and prevalence of CSE locally, history of prosecutions).
Following realist principles, the evaluation is focussed on identifying not ‘what works’ in setting up innovative CSE services, but on what works for whom, in what circumstances, and why. Thus understanding the impact of local context on the development of these services is at the centre of the evaluation. The design of the evaluation has included an initial round of data collection, using quantitative and qualitative methods, to inform the development of candidate theories. A second round of data collection is now underway to test out these theories. In addition to the perspectives of Hub and Spoke staff and professional stakeholders, the evaluation has included the perspectives of the young people using these new services, alongside their parents and carers.
Third, the presentation will outline some of the emerging findings from the evaluation – for example around multi-agency working, Spoke worker identities, and voluntary-statutory sector relationships. We will conclude by outlining some of the benefits of using a realist approach to evaluate innovative CSE services, as well as presenting some challenges of using this approach in this rapidly changing field of social policy.
Please select one of the following:: Realist evaluation , Please select a maximum of two themes from the following list:: Realist Methodology for La
