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NEW: The Kinship Care Practice Guide translates the strongest evidence into actionable recommendations. Find out more.
Sheffield’s evaluation of their Reducing Parental Conflict programme aimed to assess how training influences staff knowledge and confidence, including how resources are being used in practice to inform future funding allocation. Using the Kirkpatrick model- as referenced in the RPC training evaluation guide- Sheffield conducted surveys, observations, focus groups, interviews, and data audits, and gained valuable insights which highlighted areas for improvement in promoting toolkit training and maintaining reducing parental conflict on their agenda.
Sheffield Parent Hub’s reducing parental conflict programme is currently in its second year of delivery. Staff training has been well received by practitioners and managers at the point of delivery, however there has been limited evaluation of the implementation of the RPC Toolkit resources which are introduced during the training. To ensure the sustainability of the project and to inform future funding allocation, Sheffield designed a project evaluation with three key aims:
During the initial set-up phase, the RPC Steering Group and Relationship Champions were consulted to secure staff buy-in before beginning the evaluation. Sheffield used the Kirkpatrick model published in the Foundations resource: ‘How to evaluate training on RPC: a practical guide for local areas’ to shape their research questions and identify the best evaluation methods.
Survey data from Amity Relationship Solutions Toolkit training was collated to assess participants’ training experiences. Feedback indicated satisfaction with the trainer and content, though some respondents expressed a preference for face-to-face training over online formats.
Training observations were used to collect data on training delivery and engagement. A team leader observed face-to-face training delivered by two Relationship Champions and Senior Parenting Practitioners at Sheffield Parent Hub. The observation was conducted using an adapted observation template from Foundations’ and identified useful learnings, including how resources can be used in different relationships (e.g. parent and teenage), and the usefulness of offering additional consultations for further guidance.
A self-report practitioner survey was designed to understand practitioners’ knowledge of parental conflict, particularly the differences between parental conflict and domestic abuse, and practitioner confidence in their skills and use of resources. The survey consisted of 12-items ranked on a five-point scale from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’, adapted from
Practitioner focus groups were chosen to gather a detailed understanding of practitioners’ confidence in their knowledge and skills, use of resources, and the enablers and barriers to implementation. Sheffield Parent Hub adapted and conducted six focus groups: four with Family Intervention Service Teams delivered by Relationship Champions; one with Family Intervention Service Managers delivered by Team Leaders; and one with a School Engagement Team delivered by the Team Leader. The focus group facilitator took notes, and these were collated and analysed thematically to identify key themes by team and across the service.
Family interviews with two parents who had received reducing parental conflict support were held to capture the voices of families. The topics explored included the type of support received, their experience of the intervention and their perception of the impact for their family.
A data audit to explore the initial results of the training, an audit of casework was planned to quantify the number of reducing parental conflict 1-1 taking place with families, and explore practice across different teams. A Quality Assurance and Involvement Service (QAIS) request pulled off a report of Early Help Action Plans where identification of parental conflict was highlighted for all families that have been supported through the Family Intervention Service. Seven practitioners reviewed these cases in order to respond to the research questions.
‘Everyone involved in the evaluation has enjoyed being part of it and it has been great to reflect on how far we as a service have come.’
Findings will form part of Sheffield’s RPC Theory of Change Session delivered to the Senior Leadership Team in April 2024. The RPC theory of change will be integrated into other places in the partnership, including Family Hubs, Community & Youth Work Services and Building Successful Families programme to interlink all theories of change to support the wider agenda for families.
Moving forward, Sheffield’s plans include:
The evaluation has confirmed challenges regarding Sheffield’s reducing parental conflict agenda and focused a drive for updates and changes in year three of the programme. Sheffield aim to further embed the work across teams and normalise professional curiosity around parental conflict with families.
