Local Evaluation of the Start for Life and Family Hubs Programme

The Start for Life (SfL) and Family Hubs Programme in Kent is a key transformation programme for KCC. KCC require an independent evaluation of the Programme in Kent to: • Inform our understanding of the impact of the programme on outcomes for children, young people and families, as well as the wider impact upon the children and families' workforce, both within KCC and partner agencies; • Provide vital objectivity and rigour to the evaluation, particularly important within a partnership-led programme, and sufficient capacity to deliver a comprehensive approach. • Provide opportunity to shape the key strands of the evaluation to focus on the aspects most important to Kent. • Articulate a theory of change across the multi-agency partnership implementing the programme and clarifying the underpinning logic model; • Strengthen the quality and depth of reporting to DfE against the investment received; • Inform future development of the Start for Life and Family Hub model and offer within Kent, both within and beyond the funded period. It is critical that this work is commissioned at pace, in order that the evaluation timeline can run concurrently with implementation of the model. This will enable additional baseline measures to be taken and reviewed at different stages of programme transformation to understand the emerging impacts for families, and for findings to inform the iterative development of the programme. There is a national evaluation programme under development which may provide some limited support for Kent. Only a proportion of the 75 Start for Life and Family Hub Transformation Authorities have been invited to participate in the evaluation study, and the DfE has confirmed that Kent has not been selected to participate in the Start for Life and Family Hubs evaluation during 2023/2024. This may be reviewed by DfE in 2024/2025

The advert can be found here: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=dea628b8-0e82-ee11-8125-005056b64545&p=8691483f-2f3d-e711-80e1-005056b64545