Local Evaluation of Children's Services Learning from the Children's ...

33. Understandings of ‘prevention’ among strategic stakeholders and serviceproviders within partnerships tend to be described in local evaluation reportsas divergent, although some acknowledge that progress is being made bypartnership boards in negotiating a consensus of understanding.34. Evaluators identified diverse definitions of participation among stakeholders inmost partnerships. Many evaluators reported that professionals and adults’definitions of participation tend to predominate, rather than those of childrenand young people themselves. Often these equate to consulting children andyoung people in order to inform the development of responsive services.Despite considerable commitment to participation, in practice progress tendsto be relatively limited, with few examples of children and young people’sdirect participation in decision making at strategic and project levels.35. A number of evaluators suggested that ‘hard to reach’ children and youngpeople and younger children were particularly under-represented in Children’sFund participative activities, although some evaluators identified examples ofparticipative activities that had been effective in engaging an inclusive rangeof children and young people.36. Local evaluators pointed to the importance of partnerships resourcingdedicated participation officers, the need to train practitioners and servicemanagers and the importance of providing organisational support for serviceproviders to develop effective participative practices. Considerable investmentof time is also needed if participation strategies are to be effective. Someevaluations suggest that voluntary and community organisations may beparticularly effective in promoting participation due to their abilities to work inflexible and innovative ways.37. Evaluators reported different experiences and understandings of partnershipworking, although within many partnerships agreements had been reached onwhat partnership working means. Some stakeholders saw partnership boards’responsibilities as ensuring probity and demonstrating that they met CentralGovernment requirements. Others emphasised collaborative working betweenorganisations to bring about cultural change in children’s services.viiiExecutive Summary