
Christina Cornberg, Programme Delivery Manager, West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership, Julia Clough, Lead Manager Partnerships and Commissioning West Yorkshire Mayor’s Office, Lindsay Dalton, CEO, Ivison Trust
We are delighted to announce the publication of an evaluation of our Parent Liaison Service in West Yorkshire.
The purpose of the research was to assess what the impact is of our parent support and liaison service for the families we support across West Yorkshire. How is our support positively impacting the mental health, wellbeing and outcomes of the parents and children, was the question driving this new research.
Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, external research consultancy EAP Research, and Ivison Trust’s Head of Research Dr Sarah Hall have reported strong evidence of significant improvements in the health, wellbeing and outcomes for affected parents and their children.
Of the parents who received support from Ivison Trust, 90% reported improvements in their mental health and of the partner agencies who worked alongside Ivison Trust, 94% felt the service has reduced young people’s involvement in crime or anti-social behaviour.
Professor Jon Hobson, Director, EAP Research Consultancy said:
“Our research showed that the Parent Liaison Service significantly improved the physical and mental wellbeing of parents, carers and their children. We were able to show that this early intervention service improved the quality of life for families affected by child exploitation and the cost benefit analysis found that the programme has the potential to create savings across key public sector areas in education, health, social care and criminal justice.”
Chloe Chatney, Head of Research, Analysis and Evaluation at the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership said:
“Tackling violence and exploitation is central to our work, ensuring communities remain safe, just and inclusive. This means supporting interventions that have early intervention at their core and evaluating their effectiveness.
“It is great to see that the evaluation shows the strength of the programme, whilst recognising the positive impact of the Ivison Trust services.”
Lindsay Dalton, CEO said:
“This research is clear evidence that intervening early and supporting parents to be equitable partners using a relational approach is the most effective way of safeguarding children who are being exploited. We are calling on the new government to commit funding to the provision of specialist support services for parents and therapeutic support for the whole family so they can process their trauma and have the chance of a hopeful future.”
Amongst the recommendations from the research were the need to expand access to therapeutic support for more families, the provision of emergency accommodation for families seeking relocation, greater engagement across the education and health sector in tackling exploitation and specialist training for police officers.