Improving Children’s Lives

Vision

Improving Children’s Lives seeks to position Queen’s as a world-class centre for applied interdisciplinary research for children and young people that will become internationally-recognised for applying a children’s rights framework to evidence-informed approaches to the design and delivery of services aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people.

Long-Term Impact

Through its applied programme of research, dissemination and advocacy activities, the long-term impact that Improving Children’s Lives seeks to achieve is lasting improvements in the lives of children and young people in Northern Ireland and also nationally and internationally.

Key Outcomes

To achieve this long-term impact, Improving Children’s Lives will aim to make a significant contribution towards:

• Increasing the number of organisations in Northern Ireland offering high-quality preventive programmes for disadvantaged children and young people.
• Bringing about a sea change in Northern Ireland in relation to the way government supports and funds preventive programmes that is outcomes-focused, evidence-informed and rights-based.
• Bringing about a sea change nationally and internationally to the design, delivery and evaluation of services for children and young people that ensures they are outcomesfocused, evidence-informed and rights-based.

Core Outputs

To bring about these three key outcomes, Improving Children’s Lives will focus on producing the following three core outputs:

• The provision of high quality support to organisations in Northern Ireland and beyond that wish to adopt an outcomes-focused, evidence-informed and rights-based approach to the design, delivery and evaluation of services for children and young people.
• The provision of world-class research to organisations in Northern Ireland and beyond that is underpinned by a children’s rights framework and that can inform the design and delivery of services for children and young people and also rigorously evaluate their effectiveness.
• The delivery of a comprehensive dissemination and advocacy programme that will aim to bring about a sea change in the funding and support of services for children and young people not only in Northern Ireland but also nationally and internationally.