Independent Research

The research and evaluation currently being undertaken at Kids Company is being led by Dr Carolyn Gaskell (Queen Mary, University of London). The research and evaluation is a three year project exploring the work of Kids Company through their Arches II drop-in centre, through the education centre The Urban Academy, and through the Work in Schools’ Programme. The aim is to document the work of Kids Company and to explore the effectiveness of its interventions on the lives of vulnerable children and young people.

The current research and evaluation involves both quantitative and qualitative data. A new system of assessment and case management has been set up in order to fully document the extent of work undertaken with the children and young people. Large scale data sets are being collected to document the work undertaken with and the progress made by all the children who come into contact with Kids Company. Social care databases have been set up for children at the Arches II and the Urban Academy to manage the wealth of information contained in assessments, interventions and care plan reports. Similarly, within the Work in Schools’ Programme a new system of data collection and management has been created in order to document the interventions undertaken with the children, the extent of volunteer input and the level of child need. Quantitative data has also been collected through questionnaire survey with the children and young people accessing Kids Company’s services, and the teachers working in the Kids Company schools.

Qualitative data has been collected primarily through interviewing techniques; children and young people have been interviewed regarding their views of the effectiveness of Kids Company’s services. Kids Company staff members were interviewed in order to explore the philosophy of the organisation, and specific case studies of individual children and young people.

In October 2006 two reports were published based on the findings of the research. Some key quotes from the research are listed below:

“Kids Company provides a ‘power with’ rather than a ‘power over’ model of social care provision, where children and young people are empowered to engage with the design and delivery of their services. Self-referral, choosing key-workers and having no time frame to the care received are experienced by service users as being ‘worked with’, rather than ‘worked on’”

“Kids Company’s services are considered by children and young people to be effective at the point of access, with 97% of service users believing that Kids Company’s services were effective”

“Kids Company’s work supercedes the expectations of Every Child Matters and the Social Exclusion Strategy”

“Kids Company has developed a model of service provision that absolutely responds to the child’s emotional and practical needs. Children in turn have responded to this by engaging in the service”

“In 88% of cases, teachers believed that Kids Company’s services were effective in meeting the needs of students by delivering available, accessible, child-centred, non-stigmatising and flexible services”