Core Values

We are committed to ensuring that the design, delivery and evaluation of services for children and young people are:

Outcomes focused

Representing a commitment to the development of services that can lead to demonstrable improvements in the lives of children and young people and their parents and communities. In practice this will include: being explicit about what it is that services aim to achieve; facilitating organizations to set their own clearly defined outcomes in consultation with children and young people and their parents and communities that are measurable or in some other way verifiable; approaching the development of services clearly and logically with the aim of devising the most effective ways of achieving the outcomes specified; and being committed to evaluating the effectiveness of the services developed specifically in terms of whether they have achieved the outcomes specified for them.

Evidence informed

Representing a commitment to ensuring that the design and delivery of services for children and young people are informed by the best available evidence. In practice this will include: promoting indepth qualitative research that can increase our understanding of the experiences, perspectives and needs of children and young people and their families and communities; promoting larger-scale survey research and epidemiological studies to help understand the extent to which these experiences and needs vary across the population; and undertaking evaluations of services using randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs alongside qualitative case studies to assess whether particular services have actually been effective in improving outcomes for children and young people and, if so, why.

Children’s rights based

Representing a commitment in all that we do to understand, respect and honour the rights of children and young people. In practice this will include: focusing on the experiences and perspectives of the children and young people themselves; encouraging their active participation in all aspects of the design, delivery and evaluation of services; and ensuring that all services are fully compliant with recognized children’s rights standards.