From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
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The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, today announced a second Open Call for submissions for inclusion on the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub which provides information about prevention and early intervention programmes that have been evaluated and shown to improve outcomes for children and young people.
This second call for submissions builds on the September 2022 call, which led to five Irish programmes being evaluated and added to the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub when the Evidence Hub was launched in May this year.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth continues to work with Foundations, formerly known as the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF), to expand the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub. The Evidence Hub is a project under the What Works Initiative, which is funded through the Dormant Accounts Fund and supports the use of evidence in early intervention and prevention policy and practice for children and young people. The What Works Ireland Evidence Hub supports policy makers, service commissioners and providers across a range of policy and service areas in their decision making about services for children and young people.
The Evidence Hub provides details on prevention and early intervention programmes that have been evaluated and show some evidence of improving outcomes for children and young people.
Submissions are now sought from providers of prevention and early intervention programmes used in Ireland, who wish to have their programmes included in the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub. The Open Call for submissions runs until Thursday 7 December 2023. More details on the Open Call and how to apply are available.
Once submissions have been received, Foundations UK will select and assess five prevention and early intervention programmes used in Ireland that have evidence of positive impacts on outcomes for children and young people.
Speaking on the launch, Minister O’Gorman said:
“The What Works Ireland Evidence Hub is a fantastic resource for all those working on prevention and early intervention programmes for children and young people. From service commissioners and providers, academics to policymakers, the Evidence Hub provides clear evaluations that allows for evidence-informed decision making when working to improve planning, delivery, evaluation and continuous improvements for all.
"I am delighted to announce a second call for submissions. This will add an additional 5 Irish programmes to the over 100 programmes that have already been evaluated and are featured on the Evidence Hub. It will further highlight the work that is being carried out in Ireland that has demonstrated evidence of making changes to children and young people’s lives.
"I encourage all service providers and commissioners, as well as academics, to examine their programmes and consider submitting an application for evaluation.”
What Works, funded under the Dormant Accounts Fund, is an initiative designed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), which aims to maximise the impact of prevention and early intervention to improve outcomes for children and young people living in Ireland. There are four working strands under What Works, namely data, evidence, learning and development, and quality.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is working with Foundations, formerly the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) to evaluate programmes delivered in Ireland for inclusion on the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub.
The deadline for submissions for inclusion on the Hub is 5pm on Thursday 7 December 2023.
The What Works Ireland Evidence Hub was created based on the previously existing EIF Guidebook, which provides details on prevention and early intervention programmes that have been evaluated and show some evidence of improving outcomes for children and young people.
For each programme the Evidence Hub provides:
The What Works Ireland Evidence Hub contains information on over 100 prevention and early intervention programmes including programmes assessed based on evidence of their impact in Ireland. Evidence of impact can include preliminary evidence or more significant, robust studies.
This accessible, easy to use online tool will be available on the What Works website, where it can be used by policy makers and service commissioners across all sectors and services relevant to the lives of children and young people.
The Evidence Hub falls under the Evidence Strand of What Works. The aim of this strand is to harness the learning from prevention and early intervention initiatives and research, and actively support the use of this learning as a source and resource to inform planning, delivery, evaluation and continuous improvements.
The inclusion of a programme within the Evidence Hub is not an endorsement of the programme by either the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth or Foundations.
Queries can be directed to the department’s Parenting Support Policy Unit via whatworks@equality.gov.ie