Being a What Works Centre

As a proud member of the What Works Network, we are part of a national initiative improving public services through better use of evidence about what works.

What Works Centres are independent organisations that provide evidence-based and practical advice to those who design and deliver public services – including policymakers, commissioners, funders and practitioners. Acting at the interface between evidence and service improvement, we bridge the gaps between research, policy and practice so that services achieve better outcomes for children and families.

Every centre in the network:

• generates high-quality evidence on what works to improve outcomes
• translates it into accessible formats for national and local decision-makers, including by producing toolkits
• encourages its adoption and intelligent use in policy and across public services.

Together, What Works Centres are committed to the IMPACT principles, which guide all centres to be:

• Independent
• Methodologically rigorous
• Practical
• Accessible
• Capacity-building
• Transparent

As a What Works Centre, we are strategically positioned to connect evidence, policy and practice in ways that drive lasting change for children and families. Our role is not only to generate and share evidence, but also to influence how it is valued, used and embedded across the system.

We work at the intersection of national and local decision-making, shaping policies and practices that improve outcomes for children. We build strong relationships across government, the third sector, funders and local areas – creating the conditions for evidence-informed change.

Our approach combines methodological rigour with a deep understanding of practice realities. We translate complex findings into accessible, actionable insights, and we support others to apply evidence intelligently in their own contexts.

By operating confidently across all three arenas of evidence, policy and practice, we help ensure that high-quality evidence leads to meaningful and sustained improvements in children’s lives.

How we do it

Our approach is built around our impact triangle model connecting evidence, policy and practice. High-quality activity at each point strengthens the others.

Evidence

We generate and synthesise high-quality evidence on what works to strengthen family relationships and improve outcomes for children, using rigorous and inclusive methods. We also support early-stage evaluation to build a pipeline of emerging approaches that can be tested for impact.

Policy

We use evidence to influence national and local policy, helping decision-makers identify the strongest approaches so they can design more effective and equitable programmes for children and families. We also identify where policy development is needed and proactively develop ideas, trials and collaborations.

Practice

We work closely with local leaders to ensure evidence informs front-line service delivery. Through accessible tools and partnerships, we build capacity to understand and apply evidence in real-world settings that directly impact children’s lives. Our Evidence into Practice programme supports local authorities across England to put robust evidence at the heart of service design and delivery. We also draw on knowledge of the local and practice context to shape a research programme that speaks to the needs of those working locally.

These three areas are mutually reinforcing. Evidence shapes policy and practice so that approaches proven to improve children’s outcomes are incentivised, enabled and delivered locally. Priorities emerging from policy and practice drive the evidence agenda in return – creating a culture where using evidence is a natural and valued part of improving outcomes for children.

Our accreditation as a What Works Centre recognises the authority, rigour and relevance of our work. We bring this triangle to life by: combining methodological excellence with a deep understanding of practice realities; translating complex findings into accessible, actionable insights; and championing evidence use across government, the third sector, funders and local areas.

What Works evidence tells us whether a programme, intervention or policy achieves its intended outcomes – for whom, how, in what context and at what cost. It is one of the most powerful levers we have to improve children’s lives.

The challenge is that we do not yet have enough of it. Nationally, only a third of government’s most complex and strategically important projects have good-quality evaluation plans in place. Many areas of practice remain unevaluated, and where evidence does exist, it is often inaccessible or underused.

That is why Foundations works in partnership with experts in practice, policy, research and lived experience to urgently generate, synthesise and make available What Works evidence – so that decisions about how to support children and families are informed by the best available knowledge.

Our evidence work is guided by four principles:

• With and for our stakeholders – We answer the questions that matter most to those who make decisions for children and families, working with local and national partners to identify what they need to know and where evidence can make the greatest difference.
• Robust ethical and evidence standards – We produce evidence to the highest ethical and methodological standards. Where possible, we use randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to establish causal impact, alongside complementary methods to understand implementation, experience and cost.
• A structured evidence pipeline – We match evaluation design to programme maturity, supporting feasibility studies, pilot evaluations and full-scale trials at the right stage. We do not fund evaluations before programmes are ready.
• Systematic reviews and evidence synthesis – We draw on rigorous evidence synthesis – including systematic reviews and meta-analyses – to build strong bodies of evidence, identify gaps and translate findings into actionable recommendations for policy and practice.

Our Toolkit brings this evidence to life. The Practice Guides offer evidence-based recommendations for those commissioning and delivering local family support, and the Guidebook provides evidence-based examples of interventions that put those practices into action.

Foundations is primarily funded through a grant from the Department for Education (DfE), which supports our mission to build the evidence base for what works in early intervention and children’s social care and ensure this evidence shapes policy and practice. We achieve the greatest impact when our work aligns with the DfE’s strategic priorities.

While we work closely with the DfE as a strategic partner, our independence is essential. It allows us to report research findings objectively and initiate work that is important for improving outcomes for children but may not be a focus for government.

In addition to our core funding, we receive support from other government departments and external funders for specific projects. We are committed to transparency in all our work, and we clearly acknowledge project funding in our publications and reports.