WHAT WORKS?

“What works? ” is a fundamental question for policy makers, practitioners and service users. As well as asking what works, and how to implement it, we also need to think about what does not work, and how to stop it. If, as many of us believe (and as there is good evidence to demonstrate), the most effective time to make a difference to outcomes is in childhood, then it is likely that this is also a time when we need to be careful of doing damage. Intervening in children’s lives is not just a research, policy and practice issue for those of us at the supply end. It is also a rights issue for children and young people. Those of us in the evidence-based arena who have been pushing policy makers and practitioners to adopt evidence-based practice need to be careful that we do not sell the “What works?” agenda as a simple way to solve problems. Social and educational interventions are complex and are capable of doing as much or even more harm than medical ones. Drawing on examples that relate to children and young people, this paper will suggest that the public and NGO sectors need to invest more heavily in the “D ” part of R&D, and that we need to stimulate demand for research-based interventions. In the world of childbearing and HIV/AIDS, services in the United Kingdom have been transformed by powerful alliances between the evidence and the “user” lobbies. What would the world look like for young people if those having difficulties with their education, in trouble with the law, or in the care of the state, were to ask what the evidence is behind the services they are offered