







































Children and Teenagers 
ISSN 2576-3709 (Print) ISSN 2576-3717 (Online) 

Vol. 1, No. 2, 2018 
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/ct 

84 
 

Original Paper 

Between Early Prevention and Statutory Intervention: Meeting 

the Needs for Targeted Support for Children and Families 
Geoffrey Meads1* & Kathleen Butler2 

1 Health and Wellbeing Research Group, University of Winchester, Winchester, UK 
2 Faculty of Education, Health & Social Care, University of Winchester, Winchester, UK 
* Geoffrey Meads, Health and Wellbeing Research Group, University of Winchester, Winchester, UK 

 

Received: July 3, 2018        Accepted: July 17, 2018       Online Published: September 29, 2018 

doi:10.22158/ct.v1n2p84                         URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/ct.v1n2p84 

 

Abstract 

The subject is services for vulnerable children aged up to fourteen years and their families in the 

Winchester area of southern England. The services comprise three group-work based programmes, 

each lasting for twelve months. Their review comprised a two stage study designed to scope future 

objectives for a host charity in its development alongside faith agencies. The first stage used a Delphi 

process to define the principal priorities of trustees. These were then rated and applied to a follow up 

client satisfaction survey across the three programmes for 40 families. The overall 55% rate indicated 

a positive response from service users with a multi-dimensional approach to resilience building 

strongly endorsed. However, the analysis also scoped three areas for improvement. Findings indicated 

first, that the significance of help with preparation for work and education is understated by trustees 

less familiar with employment shortfalls; secondly that family focused services should recognize the 

particular needs of fathers and not be slanted towards mothers and their children; and thirdly, 

decisions on social enterprise status must take into account potential disconnects between the values of 

service recipients and those of different socio-economic means in governance roles. These findings are 

relevant to comparable voluntary sector agencies. 
Keywords 

vulnerability, early prevention, children, governance, charity, social enterprise, targeted support 

 

 

 

 

 



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1. Introduction 

Friends of the family are a long standing local charity providing a programme of three group-work 

services to support vulnerable families in the Winchester area of southern England. It operates from 

premises adapted specifically for its purposes by the Quakers and Salvation Army. It has the backing of 

the local multi-denominational churches together movement which includes all the main Christian 

worship venues in the area. The charity focuses on children up to the age of fourteen, where there are 

significant risks of domestic breakdown and/or child protection procedures, and the consequent use of 

legal powers by the local authority social services department (e.g., formal supervision or care orders). 

Its groups are for a total membership of up to 40 families, with participation in each of the programmes 

limited to twelve months. The invitation to undertake an evaluation of the charity’s services came from 

its Chair, in advance of a period when the UK National Lottery and associated external funding sources 

are due for renewal. The evaluation was undertaken over a one-year period in 2016-2017, with this 

period including the initial dissemination of a draft report to trustees. 

If, on the one hand, the need for continued commissioning was a key practical imperative for the 

service evaluation, then there were also, on the other, more conceptual forces that were influential in 

the request for validation through external research. These were expressed through two central 

government policies. The first of these, dating from WHO inspired public health policy developments, 

promotes the role of private and voluntary organizations in welfare and wellbeing services through the 

business management models of new social enterprises (Marmot, 2010). The second, in a period of 

restricted and restrictive public expenditure, looks to confine the roles and responsibilities of local 

councils in children’s services to that of overall preventive public health strategy and urgent casework. 

A series of studies indicate that the latter has become increasingly based on statutory criteria and 

safeguarding risk assessments (Allen, 2011; National Children’s Bureau & Children’s Society, 2016; 

Bates, 2017). Together these two policies have been designed to underpin post-Millennium 

“modernizing” concepts of a more participative democracy and a broader based stakeholder society 

(Denham, 2001; Henderson et al., 2004; Public Health England, 2015). 

As a result of the first of these policy drivers there has been a rapid expansion in what is termed 

“missional social action” by churches (Diocese of Winchester, 2016). Launchpad, for example, as the 

agency established and hosted by the Winchester Anglican diocese, aims to provide up to 60 per cent of 

the county of Hampshire’s under 5’s day care from premises in its parishes by 2020. This follows in the 

footsteps of a similar initiative for older people’s befriending service which has seen over 120 local 

Good Neighbour schemes come under the auspices of the diocese (Ralph, 2015). The planned growth 

in faith based social enterprise corresponds to the reduction in State run children’s services arising from 

the second policy driver (Faith Action, 2014). This trend was well illustrated during the 2015-2016 

period when 43 of the Hampshire County Council’s 54 Children’s Sure Start Centres—covering a 



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population of 1.8 million—were closed (BBC News, 2017; Smith et al., 2018). 

The group-work undertaken by the trained staff counsellors and sessional volunteers of Friends of the 

Family are specifically targeted at support for fathers; the befriending of children aged between five 

and thirteen years with their carers; and the maintenance and rehabilitation of families with children 

under five. Paternal support includes individual counselling sessions for fathers, some of whom are in 

custody. The befriending service includes named attachments by selected and trained volunteer visitors 

who are matched to particular homesteads. The under 5’s services includes playgroup and pre-school 

nursery based training sessions. While self-referrals are assessed and accepted most referrals do come 

from local NHS and Social Services agencies. “Risk of breakdown” is defined to include traumatic 

events, poverty, social exclusion and isolation, as well as severe domestic relationship difficulties: all of 

which can be linked to child protection issues. The last items in this are the main reason for referral. 

Purpose 

In seeking to gain a better understanding of the difference its support services make the trustees of 

Friends of the Family wanted to ensure that there was an effective alignment between the charity’s 

stated priorities, its intentions and the overall purpose of improving children’s experiences of family 

life. These were encapsulated in our pyramid model set out below in Figure 1. 

 

 

Figure 1. Organisational Priorities and Delivery 

 

The initial discussion with the charity’s Chair highlighted her concern that there should be a productive 

relationship between the actual experiences the charity’s clients and the aspirations of its trustees. This 

desire to understand both these perspectives helped us define and agree the following set of objectives 



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for the study, as follows: 

1) To gain an enhanced understanding of the overall performance of the organisation.  

2) To assess how funding translates into the support services of children and their families. 

3) Identify areas of service delivery that could be strengthened or improved.  

The objectives reflect the twin emphasis on getting right both service delivery and governance 

arrangements. 

 

2. Method 

This dual emphasis was also reflected in the methods of data capture and analysis. Accordingly, in the 

first stage a three part Delphi style process was designed to enable trustees to review and refine the 

corporate priorities. In stage two the results of this were then used to shape a client satisfaction survey 

employing a modified Likert format (Bryman, 2014). The questions corresponded to the individual 

service delivery items identified by trustees as significant in their Delphi deliberations. Questions were 

paired on a “before and after” basis to ensure that any changes in client experience over the pre- and 

post-entry time periods could be identified. The Likert questionnaire is set out in Table 1 below. After 

training from one of the researchers the survey was administered by trustees themselves, following an 

introductory letter from the Chair. This guaranteed anonymity and all responses were subject to the 

charity’s data security procedures. Participation in the project was voluntary for both clients and 

trustees. The questionnaire contains an open section for any form of comment. 

Please score each of the following statements on a scale of 1-5. A score of 1 denotes “Strongly 

Disagree” and a score of 5 “Strongly Agree”: 

 

Table 1. Client Satisfaction Questionnaire 

5 4 3 2 1 

Strongly 

Agree 

Agree Neither Or N/A Disagree Strongly 

Disagree 

 

1) Before working with Friends of the Family I felt confident in sharing my views with professionals 

(teachers, social workers, health care professionals, etc.). 

2) Working with Friends of the Family has helped me feel confident in sharing my views with 

professionals (teachers, social workers, health care professionals, etc.). 

3) Working with Friends of the Family has helped me feel confident in sharing my views with my 

wider family. 

4) Before working with Friends of the Family I felt confident in the decisions I made in regards to 

parenting. 



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5) Working with Friends of the Family has helped build my confidence in the decisions I make in 

regards to parenting. 

6) Friends of the Family have helped me build a support network with people who share similar 

experiences. 

7) I feel that my views and experiences are valued by Friends of the Family. 

8) Friends of the Family have helped/are helping me develop some goals in relation to 

employment/education/training. 

9) I feel that I have something to offer other people who may have similar experiences to mine/with 

on-going support through Friends of the Family I feel that I will have something to offer people who 

may have similar experiences. 

10) I feel that I have learned/am learning new skills through being involved with Friends of the Family. 

11) My involvement with Friends of the Family has helped me feel able to manage my own day-to-day 

challenges (work, meetings, sustaining household routines, attending appointments). 

12) Before my involvement with Friends of the Family I felt able to manage my own day-to-day 

challenges (work, meetings, maintaining household routines, attending appointments). 

13) I belong to other social networks outside of Friends of the Family. 

14) Before my involvement with Friends of the Family I felt involved in the other social networks. 

15) Before my involvement with Friends of the Family I felt overwhelmed in creating and maintaining 

routines for my family (school, homework, appointments). 

16) Friends of the Family has helped me feel able to create and maintain routines for my family (school, 

homework, appointments). 

17) Friends of the Family have helped me recognize the skills and abilities that I have. 

18) I would recommend Friends of the Family to others. 

 

3. Results 

Ten trustees took part in the Delphi process. For this purpose they were regarded as the expert data 

sources, by dint of their positions in the governance structure, with each having nominated specialist 

roles based on their past experience and interests in the children’s services sector. Three meetings took 

place with the researchers as joint facilitators to ensure consistency of approach. The first was a 

sub-group exercise to map, through consensus, the key goals of the charity. To respond to the Chair’s 

constitutional mandate for Friends of the Family, as a charity distinctive in its capacity to tailor inputs 

to particular individual circumstances, this exercise employed the thematic of personalization as its 

overall framework. The result was the clustering of aims by trustees around the three headings of 

Resilience, Confidence and Vocation, with four items in each identified and agreed across the trustee 

sub groups. 



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The second meeting was a plenary session in which participants were asked in groups a question 

requiring them to prioritize in order the specific individual goals identified at the first stage. The results 

were confirmation of the groupings in the threefold classification with some revised wording; and a 

weighting scale given to each of the three clusters by majority voting, using a graduated 0-1 scale. An 

updated personalization agenda of priority items from this exercise was defined as now follows. The 

principal components were, in order of priority: family relationships, inclusion/isolation, life skills, 

occupational equipping and calling, survival skills/resilience, and self-esteem/social confidence. 

This list of items in the trustees’ weighted agenda was then applied in the researchers’ design of the 

Likert scale in Table 1. This was internally tested, revised at the trial stage in discussion with trustee 

representatives, and finally signed off by the charity chair. As the final phase of validation in the Delphi 

process, prior to dissemination of findings, the trustees were asked to consider the relationship—the 

degree of alignment—between the publicly stated aims of the charity and the agenda identified in the 

first two parts of the process. 

The survey response rate was 55%. The 22 respondents were spread quite evenly across the three 

group-work interventions, with a range from 6 to 10 between the under 5’s and befriending 

programmes. Responses were overwhelmingly positive with seven items achieving positive satisfaction 

scores of over 75%. Summaries of these are set out in below. 

• 82% of the participants in the survey felt that their involvement with Friends of the Family has 

helped them to feel confident in sharing their views with professionals (item 5). 

• 77% of participants think that their involvement with Friends of the Family has helped them build 

confidence in making parenting decisions (item 8). 

• 77% think that Friends of the Family has helped them to build a support base with people who 

share the same or similar experiences (item 9). 

• 91% of the participants in the survey feel that their views are valued by Friends of the Family (item 

10). 

• 82% feel that they have something to offer, or with ongoing support through Friends of the Family 

will have something to offer other people who have similar experiences to them (item 12).  

• 77% feel that involvement with Friends of the Family has helped them to be able to manage day to 

day challenges (item 14). 

• 77% said that Friend of the Families has helped them to recognize the skills and abilities that they 

have (item 20). 

These positive findings were reinforced by the written comments received of which the following are 

illustrative. 

“Friends of the Family have given me emotional support throughout, providing counselling and helping 

me to access things when I had no money. I have made good and lasting friendships and my daughter 



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loves the company of other children. Honestly I would have been lost without this group.” 

“After having counselling I am now a recovering alcoholic. I have tackled the abuse I suffered as a 

child and it no longer consumes me. I am able to function as a member of society and be comfortable 

with who I am”. 

“Helping us to become the fathers we needed as children is the main point that I have learned through 

the wonderful support offered”. 

100% of the respondents agreed they would recommend Friends of the Family to others. 77% stated 

they “strongly agreed” with this. Such a high satisfaction rate should clearly assist in future funding 

applications. 

 

4. Discussion 

The use of weighted priorities by the trustees, however, allowed them to consider more nuanced 

findings than just this easy conclusion of high client satisfaction. Their own Delphi exercise had 

afforded “Vocation” the lowest score at 0.5 as a priority, with “Resilience” highest at 1.0 (and 

“Confidence” midway between). Survey respondents had also scored the vocational items lowest, but 

as an area of unmet need. Overall the mean score of below 4.0—demonstrating positive agreement—on 

the items relating to work, schedules, appointments, schooling and homework (Items 11, 15 and 18) 

appeared to indicate that clients did not view Friends of the Family as a charity which concentrated on 

practical support in respect of employment and training. The mean score for female correspondents on 

the cluster of relevant questions was 3.38 and 3.88 for men. The scores suggested to trustees that they 

should carefully consider if their limited focus on vocational issues may have contributed to some 

service delivery shortfalls. 

The scores in the areas of Resilience and Confidence were more positive. On all items covering 

encounters with professionals, daily challenges and children’s routines, parenting decisions and 

building social networks (Items 4, 5, 14, 15, 18, 19, respectively), there were important “before and 

after” advances recorded. For example, with a mean of 3.0 for “Agreement” overall average scores 

increased from 3.6 to 4.2 for the ability to deal with professionals; from 3.4 to 4.0 for competence in 

parental decision making; and from 3.0 to 3.4 for social group membership. Interestingly, on all the 

relevant items the male respondents (N: 11) scored the services received higher. Similar studies have 

also found that marginalized fathers appreciate supportive interventions more, seemingly because there 

are fewer are available to them (Quinton, 2004; Clapton, 2009). 

The enhanced scores by service users would seem to align with trustees’ own priorities and with their 

perspective on what constitutes the sources of Confidence and Resilience. The feedback, for example, 

provided encouragement to them in terms of maintaining the charity’s innovative approach to 

pre-release counselling support for fathers in custody. Indeed it suggested more such services would be 



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welcome, with an emphasis on the recruitment of more male volunteers being a possible way forward.  

A final meeting was then held with the trustees with the results of the survey, leading to the 

recommendations for practice described below, and affirmation of the organizational model set out in 

Figure 1 above. This meeting was convened by the Chair of the charity.  

The research undertaken confirmed the positive impact in socio-emotional terms of the services 

provided by Friends of the Family in Winchester. It identified some shortfalls in terms of unmet needs 

for practical assistance in relation to employment and training which require enhanced external 

linkages for the charity. This was especially apparent for male clients, who would appreciate more 

interventions tailored to their needs. The particular Christian charity venues for Friends of the Family 

were found to offer secure and sympathetic surroundings for social skills and personal identity 

development; but the relatively closed environments, with some features akin to a sanctuary, could 

have also contributed to a lack of connectivity with outside community agencies.  

Accordingly, it was recommended, that over time the charity carefully consider its future organizational 

status options, such as those of a community oriented or interested company, with its client families, to 

help ensure that its values continue to be reflected in its collaborative governance arrangements. 

Specifically the Chair recognized the requirement to ensure that selected trustees—including past 

service users—are equipped to fully recognize the full range of needs presented by those referred to 

Friends of the Family, and that agency partnerships are extended to provide accessible gateways to 

appropriate and restorative vocational opportunities. These linkages could valuably include charities 

which both operate alongside or combine with faith based social enterprises that possess wider remits, 

including employment and training opportunities. The general need to enhance integration between the 

rapidly growing volume and scale of wellbeing practices was acknowledged. 

For future research this project points to the need to address the question of which modes of 

organizational development most enhance services for children and teenagers in States where social 

policies are increasingly founded on relationships with and between a diversity of values based 

agencies. This research question is most pertinent where boundaries between central governments and 

civil society are shifting significantly.  

 

Acknowledgements 

The evaluation team is grateful to group leaders, volunteers and trustees that participated in the 

evaluation. Thanks to those parents who shared some of their experiences and views on the support 

offered by Friends of the Family. 

 

 

 



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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-36688258
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/marmotreview

