How to evaluate training on reducing parental conflict: A practical guide for local areas

Legacy Content

This project or publication was produced before or during the merger of What Works for Children’s Social Care (WWCSC) and the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF).

This practical step-by-step guide for local areas is designed to help make the process of conducting an evaluation of reducing parental conflict training more manageable and achievable.

The provision of reducing parental conflict training for the workforce is a key priority for local areas, as set out by the Department for Work and Pensions, and many local areas have begun integrating the training offer as part of their wider workforce development to ensure practitioners are appropriately trained and qualified.

The ability to evaluate training is important to gather insight into what is working and what is not. However, we know from our interactions with local areas that evaluation and its methods can often feel daunting.

In this guide, we provide step-by-step instructions for an approach to evaluating reducing parental conflict training, from planning your evaluation, to collecting, interpreting and analysing your data, to reporting on the evaluation findings and planning for further evaluation. This guidance is based on learning gathered from EIF’s reducing parental conflict evaluation support to local areas.

How to use this guide

This guide builds on our previous practical reducing parental conflict evaluation guidance for local areas, which covered evaluation across all aspects of reducing parental conflict support.

In addition to links to relevant sections of the reducing parental conflict evaluation guide, this reducing parental conflict training evaluation guide also contains practical tips, templates and practice examples.

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Related TOols

March 17, 2025

This resource explores the role of police professionals in responding to parental conflict and how their involvement can help mitigate its negative effects on children and families. Drawing on police perspectives from our exploratory project commissioned by DWP, it highlights practical approaches to identification, response, and collaboration with other services.

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Cost ratings:

Rated 1: Set up and delivery is low cost, equivalent to an estimated unit cost of less than £100.

Rated 2: Set up and delivery is medium-low cost, equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £100–£499.

Rated 3: Set up and delivery is medium cost, equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £500–£999.

Rated 4: Set up and delivery is medium-high cost, equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £1,000–£2,000.

Rating 5: Set up and delivery is high cost. Equivalent to an estimated unit cost of more than £2,000.

Set up and delivery cost is not applicable, not available, or has not been calculated.

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Child Outcomes:

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Supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.

Preventing child maltreatment: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.

Enhancing school achievement & employment: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.

Preventing crime, violence and antisocial behaviour: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.

Preventing substance abuse: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.

Preventing risky sexual behaviour & teen pregnancy: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.

Preventing obesity and promoting healthy physical development: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.

Evidence ratings:

Rated 2: Has preliminary evidence of improving a child outcome from a quantitative impact study, but there is not yet evidence of causal impact.

Rated 2+: Meets the level 2 rating and the best available evidence is based on a study which is more rigorous than a level 2 standard but does not meet the level 3 standard.

Rated 3: Has evidence of a short-term positive impact from at least one rigorous study.

Rated 3+: Meets the level 3 rating and has evidence from other studies with a comparison group at level 2 or higher.

Rated 4: Has evidence of a long-term positive impact through at least two rigorous studies.

Rated 4+: Meets the level 4 rating and has at least a third study contributing to the Level 4 rating, with at least one of the studies conducted independently of the intervention provider.

Rating has a *: The evidence base includes mixed findings i.e., studies suggesting positive impact alongside studies, which on balance, indicate no effect or negative impact.

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