Press release
Minister O’Gorman launches the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, today launched the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub.
The What Works Ireland Evidence Hub is an online tool designed to increase access to effective prevention and early intervention programmes by making the best evidence on what works available to policy makers, service commissioners, providers and other audiences. It promotes the use of evidence-based programmes and is linked to the five national outcomes which will be included in the forthcoming new National Policy Framework for Children and Young People.
The Evidence Hub is based on the existing Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) ‘Guidebook’ in the UK, which provides details of prevention and early intervention programmes that have been evaluated and show some evidence of improving outcomes for children and young people. In creating the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub, the UK ‘Guidebook’ has been adapted to the Irish context, for an Irish audience. For each programme, information is provided about:
- the specific outcomes the programme has been found to improve and the size of those improvements
- setting where the programme is delivered
- the cost effectiveness of the programme
- how the programme is delivered and how it works; and
- the conditions or resources that can improve its likelihood of being effective
The Evidence Hub contains information on over 100 prevention and early intervention programmes. The development of the Evidence Hub has included the addition of five programmes currently used in Ireland, and there will be further opportunities to have programmes assessed for evidence of their impact and included in the Hub.
Minister O’Gorman said:
“I am delighted to launch the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub today. We all know that effective prevention and early intervention has significant benefits for children, young people and their families and is also an effective and efficient use of resources.
"This is an important milestone in the area of prevention and early intervention work in Ireland in that the Hub can be used by service commissioners, service providers, academics and other policy makers working in the field of prevention and early intervention across Ireland and also internationally.
"With the help of the What Works Initiative and an increased focus generally on prevention and early intervention, we understand the importance of moving from crisis intervention to prevention and early intervention, and the launch of the Hub today will further strengthen our responses."
Access to the What Works website and the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub can be found here:What Works Ireland Evidence Hub - WhatWorks.
What Works, funded under Dormant Accounts, is an initiative designed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), which aims to maximise the impact of prevention and early intervention to improve outcomes for children and young people living in Ireland. There are four working strands under What Works, namely data, evidence, learning & development and quality.
The What Works Ireland Evidence Hub is an online tool designed to increase access to effective prevention and early intervention programmes by making the best evidence on what works available to policy makers, service commissioners, providers and other audiences.
The aim of the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub is to promote use of evidence-based programmes and is linked to the five national outcomes for children under Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures and also the national outcomes under the forthcoming new National Policy Framework for Children and Young People.
The Evidence Hub is based on the existing Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) ‘Guidebook’ in the UK, which provides details of prevention and early intervention programmes that have been evaluated and show some evidence of improving outcomes for children and young people. In creating the What Works Ireland Evidence Hub, the EIF ‘Guidebook’ has been adapted to the Irish context, for an Irish audience.
For each programme, information is provided about:
- the specific outcomes the programme has been found to improve and the size of those improvements
- setting where the programme is delivered
- the cost effectiveness of the programme
- how the programme is delivered and how it works; and
- the conditions or resources that can improve its likelihood of being effective
Information about the five programmes currently used in Ireland is detailed in this document:
For further information and queries please contact the What Works Team at WhatWorks@equality.gov.ie