Stories of change:
Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 2
Contents Most Significant Change – an introduction
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What participants did
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Reflections from participants The Big House
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PhotoVoice
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Most Significant Change stories
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Leicestershire Cares
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PhotoVoice
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Drive Forward Foundation
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The Big House
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Coram Voice New Belongings
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Leicestershire Cares
13
Appendix: Most Significant Change Template 14
Home
Introduction
What participants did
Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 3
Most Significant Change – an introduction What is Most Significant Change? In a nutshell, Most Significant Change is an evaluation method that involves generating and analysing stories about change. It can focus on changes for people, practices, and the organisation as a whole. It helps make sense of how a programme or project makes a difference and when.
In 2017, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation launched our Young People Leaving Care funding, open to voluntary sector organisations who are working to support care leavers. We commissioned a Leaving Care Learning Programme to run alongside the funding to facilitate learning, collaboration and alliances between the funded organisations, and with Esmée.
What are the benefits of the approach? Most Significant Change aims to learn from what works well, and support organisations to critically reflect. The approach is focused on improving practice and helps to identify values, unexpected changes and outcomes that might be emerging.
At the end of 2021, we asked the Centre for Youth Impact to run a series of workshops on ‘Most Significant Change’ for organisations on our Leaving Care Learning Programme. This paper shares stories of change from Learning Programme participants.
Everyone can tell a story about the things they think are important.
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Introduction
What participants did
By sharing our methodology alongside the participants’ stories of change, we hope those interested in different ways of evaluation, including other funders, find it useful as well as shining a light on the amazing stories of our funded organisations. Read our report: Insights from our Learning Programme to learn more about Esmée’s Young People Leaving Care funding, and the Learning Programme, which we published in December 2021.
We wanted to understand the impact of the Learning Programme on participants using a story-based evaluation to complement more typical reporting methods. We also wanted to test Most Significant Change to do this, and explore whether it is a useful approach for describing and communicating the impact of the Learning Programme. We thought it would be especially helpful for capturing the impact of the more creative aspects of the participants’ work.
Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
Appendix
What participants did
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 4
First steps:
Practitioner workshop:
Stakeholder group:
Final stages:
Practitioners working with young people were encouraged to collect stories focusing on:
The Centre for Youth Impact convened a workshop where we broke out into smaller groups to collectively review the stories – reading each of them out loud. We sorted the stories into themes – for example, consistent and trusted relationships; skills and personal development; tailored and holistic support; and voice and ownership by young people.
A few weeks later, a ‘stakeholder group’ met – this was made up of staff from some of the organisations who were more senior or who had not taken part up to this point, as well as representatives from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
Key points from the discussion and selected stories were shared back with everyone who had been involved at different stages.
What was the most significant positive change you have seen since the start of your Esmée grant – about a young person, yourselves, the organisation or a policy change. They were asked to explain why the story was significant to them, and what features of the programme made the biggest difference. This generated 29 stories.
The groups then worked together to select the ‘most significant’ stories for each theme and noted the reasons for the choices.
The stakeholder group looked at the nine stories selected as ‘most significant’ from the practitioner workshop, and worked together to sort these into themes, and choose one story overall.
Visit Better Evaluation to learn more about Most Significant Change and find resources on using it as an approach. You can find the template we used in our process in the appendix on page 14.
Home
Introduction
What participants did
Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 5
Reflections from participants about the Most Significant Change process: We asked two of the organisations who took part to share their reflections # 01/02
The Big House
Lisa attended the practitioner workshop, and Megan the stakeholder workshop. Why were you interested in taking part? L: We are always looking for interesting ways to evaluate the impact of our work, especially when it allows for our young people and those who engage with us to tell us in their own words. How did you approach collecting stories – how easy/difficult was this? Did you learn anything unexpected? L: We have a really strong relationship with the young people we support, the partners we work with and the teams we engage, both internally and externally. This enables us to engage on lots of different levels. It was really interesting to be able to ask the same questions we ask the young people we support as our Board, Team and external partners – and to get such positive and supportive feedback.
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Introduction
How did you find the process of first reviewing all the stories and sorting them? What was most surprising? And most challenging? L: I did find sorting the stories quite difficult to begin with as all stories felt really significant. However, once we were able to establish categories, and within these agree on a scale of impact, it was clear where some stood out from others. I found the group work really beneficial to the whole process and was surprised at how the decisions made were so unanimous. Stakeholder group – what was it like being involved at the later stage of the process? What was surprising, and most challenging? M: I really enjoyed being involved at the later stage, it felt like the stories had already been distilled into a really high quality select few. I found it really interesting to work with the group, and was surprised by how similar everyone’s opinions were in most cases.
What participants did
Reflections from participants
Do you think you might use this approach (or part of it) again in the future? L: I definitely will be using this approach to help evaluate more qualitative data and to really bring forward the voices of the people we engage with when planning and shaping our next projects/activities. M: I would definitely consider using it in the future. We often ask the young people for case study stories, but it is really helpful to have a format that actually focuses on a specific change and can include staff as well as the young people we work with. How could it be improved? M: We had a very interesting and challenging discussion about the importance of the stories including some directly from young people (rather than professionals) so I think if I did this again I would ensure there was perhaps a separate category for that.
Most Significant Change stories
Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 6
Reflections from participants about the Most Significant Change process: We asked two of the organisations who took part to share their reflections # 02/02
PhotoVoice
Lauren attended the practitioner workshop, and Tom the stakeholder workshop. Why were you interested in taking part? L: I’d heard of the methodology but only in theory and wanted to see it in practice – how it would work and how this may relate to some of our evaluations. How did you approach collecting stories – how easy/difficult was this? Did you learn anything unexpected? L: We were somewhat limited in collecting stories from young people directly as they had already taken part in a lot of evaluation activities for the project so I was reluctant to ask for an additional story which was fairly similar to information they had already given. We therefore focused on staff stories which was a useful opportunity to reflect on what we’re proud of – it was interesting comparing the stories we decided to select.
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Introduction
How did you find the process of first reviewing all the stories and sorting them? What was most surprising? And most challenging? L: I liked hearing stories from other organisations – it was great to hear in particular the stories from young people and I was inspired by many of their comments. I was surprised at how quickly we were going through the stories and would have liked substantially more time to consider each one. Quite often, the most significant one chosen was one that had a memorable phrase. And towards the end, decisions were made very quickly.
What participants did
Reflections from participants
Do you think you might use this approach (or part of it) again in the future? L: I will bear (parts of it) in mind when considering evaluation methods. I love the openness of ‘significance’ and think it’d be good to use that framing when doing evaluation with young people and then having a group chat on what their significant stories mean collectively. T: I enjoyed learning about the methodology and seeing it applied. My concern is that the methodology creates an artificial sense of judgement, worthiness, or scale of impact. I don’t think that the culmination of anything that puts one story/output above the others would be something I’d be comfortable adopting in our work. I would certainly never implement it amongst a participant group. In our approach [at PhotoVoice], all perspectives are weighted as equally valued, with all participants sharing space to have their stories heard.
Most Significant Change stories
How could it be improved? L: More time to consider the stories, and I think this would have really benefited from being in-person. Some sort of additional mechanism that accounts for stories that are outliers to the selected domains. T: I agree that more time would be useful. I also think that we experienced and discussed some concerns about the disconnect between participants writing their own submission versus staff on their behalf. Both have challenges with neither being ideal for different reasons. Staff are speaking on behalf of, but participants are much more likely to feel personal investment which can be negatively affected by the judgement element of the methodology.
Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 7
Most Significant Change stories from participants The stories that captured our imagination in the workshops were often in the words of the young person, or from a practitioner working closely with them. There were many examples in the stories of amplifying young people’s voices to help bring about wider change. The stories helped in seeing specific changes that have happened – for a young person, for wider stakeholders, or changing unhelpful processes.
The main themes were very consistent with the wider priorities of the organisations on the Learning Programme who are all working to ensure that every care leaver has the chance to flourish. We have collated a selection of the Most Significant Change stories that were discussed at both workshops. These have been updated to provide more detail about the projects and organisations (these were previously anonymised) and have been reproduced here with the consent of those involved.
Leicestershire Cares
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PhotoVoice
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Community partnerships
Skills and personal development
Drive Forward Foundation
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The Big House
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Coram Voice New Belongings
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Leicestershire Cares
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Tailored and holistic approach
Flexible, responsive, long-term support
Voice, confidence and ownership of, and by, young people
Consistent and trusted relationships Home
Introduction
What participants did
Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 8
Leicestershire Cares Community partnerships Leicestershire Cares offer a range of free services to young people with care experience. They work closely with groups and individuals with strong links to business – helping young people with employability skills, finding work, alongside practical support.
This story represents both community partnerships and young people building partnerships in their community opening up new doors and possibilities. Learning through practice has allowed Leicestershire Cares to build on this and develop it with an impressive number of local businesses. This story was also selected as ‘most significant’ overall.
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What participants did
This story is from one of Leicestershire Cares’ staff reflecting on their work.
The more people from all walks of life understand the diverse life experiences of care experienced young people, the more able our communities will be to support them. Our programme had the time and flexibility so we could build deep relationships with young people and adapt to their needs as we went along.
In order to support care experienced young people we need to develop creative partnerships that understand the complexity of their life situation. These partnerships need to be created outside the normal social/youth service box and proactively seek to include local community groups and businesses sector. We have seen through our practice, that young people can gain a lot through building new connections. In many ways this resonates with the old saying it takes a village to raise a child. The fact that our Voices project has persuaded 103 local businesses to think about supporting care experienced young people has opened up 103 doors and possibilities. Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
Learn more about what Leicestershire Cares offers care experienced young people and professionals working with them. Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 9
PhotoVoice Skills and personal development PhotoVoice deliver participatory photography projects. Their Care Leavers in Focus project uses photography and storytelling as a tool for advocacy and self-expression, supporting participants to reflect on their experiences, and what they need from relevant support services and providers. This story is about a participant on Care Leavers in Focus told by one of the staff involved.
This story captures concisely the combination of skills development but also confidence and relationship development. There are also elements of advocacy, technical skills and confidence building.
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What participants did
This young person came to the project with an interest in both photography and advocacy. Over a two year period, she learned to combine these two passions and the project supported her ambitions and growth. Young people are trusted with a camera free of charge from day one, and workshops are tailored to their needs. Over the course of the workshops, the young person produced an engaging body of work, and presented images in front of audiences, at Care About Care festival, to a Corporate Parenting Board and other places.
Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
She relies on her experience as an ambassador in interviews: highlighting her ability to contribute over sustained periods of time, most recently for high-level advocacy organisations. This story is significant to me because she has been such an invaluable asset. She has not only stayed engaged with the project, which has been a challenge for some others, but she has provided key insights beyond the level expected. Seeing her go from strength to strength sharing her perspectives has been both professionally and personally rewarding.
Forget-me-not: You can’t always change what has happened in your past but you can always make your future stronger and better.
Learn more about PhotoVoice’s Care Leavers In Focus programme.
Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 10
Drive Forward Foundation Tailored and holistic approach Drive Forward Foundation (DFF) support care-experienced young people to achieve their full potential through sustainable and fulfilling employment. This story is about one young person they supported.
This story highlights the multiple different elements that might be needed to respond to specific needs: mental health, housing, education. The story also shows how the service in question was responsive but driven by the young person. It showed how the service responded creatively and flexibly.
The young person was in a bad place back in November 2019, and came back to DFF in a crisis situation, having experienced domestic violence. She has a young daughter and wanted to be able to keep her safe. She is a bright young woman, but does not have support from her parents and with two violent ex boyfriends, both who were heavily involved with the criminal justice system, she knew she wanted more for herself. DFF supported her to put pressure on the local authority to get her re-housed in her own accommodation, and then to find out about relevant university courses. She wanted to study Psychology but always thought not having a Maths GCSE would hold her back. However, with our help and encouragement we managed to find a course with a foundation year. We supported her with DFF’s in-house counselling service, and
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What participants did
Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
to find a paid internship. At the end of 2021, she is now in her second year of a BSc in Psychology, a top performer on her course, managing to juggle single parenthood and being an ambassador both for DFF and for her university. We are now supporting her to get a 30 hour placement within the NHS as part of her course. Her life has completely changed in two years, and it is due to her own resolve and the encouragement of ensuring she has the right people around her.
Learn more about Drive Forward Foundation’s support for young care experienced people.
Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 11
The Big House Flexible, responsive, long-term support The Big House works with care leavers who are at a high risk of social exclusion, providing a platform for them to participate in the making of theatre and have their voices heard. This takes place through workshops, rehearsals and performances.
This story shows a lot of flexibility in approaches and prioritises responsiveness. It provides a space where young people can have personalised support over younger periods. Staff have a longer-term commitment and knowing that you can return to the project is important.
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In this story, a young person reflects on their experiences of taking part in The Open House Project at The Big House. I would say that the most significant positive change I have experienced since coming to The Open House Project is the change in my mentality. Using drama as a therapeutic tool along with the extra support I’ve received has allowed me to begin to feel positive about myself and realise the things I needed to work on to reach my goals. I have become more resilient, reliable and happier. I know that I can do anything that I set my mind to as long as I have the right attitude and put the work in. For me, The Open House Project has been invaluable and absolutely saved my life.
Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
Along the way I began to achieve things I never thought were possible. Acting has become a viable career route for me and that in itself is amazing. It also means that for the first time in my life, I feel that I have purpose and a strong sense of self belief. The way the staff at The Big House approach things is very unique. You can do drama anywhere, but for me personally what makes The Big House different and special is the way staff support us and look after us and deal with problems. The forgiving and therapeutic side of things is what makes the biggest difference. The way The Open House Project is structured, having a month of life skills and a month of rehearsals and a month of a show, gives you a lot of time to go on a journey.
Learn more about The Big House programme
Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 12
Coram Voice New Belongings Voice, confidence and ownership of, and by, young people New Belongings is a three-year programme delivered by Coram Voice. It works with eight local authorities in England supporting them to engage care leavers in service improvements using a co-production approach.
This story exemplifies the process starting from sharing voices and goes on to feedback on what has been done as a result of these voices. Care leavers understanding what changes have happened from their input is crucial for valuing young people’s voices.
In this story, a member of the Coram Voice team reflects on the programme and the commitment from local authorities to embed co-production within their New Belongings Journey. One of the local authorities on the programme wanted to demonstrate input by care leavers in their action plans. They created two icons to show all readers that decisions had either been discussed with care leavers or the action had been co-produced with care leavers. The relevant icon was placed next to an action.
involvement. They also were committed to ensuring that it is communicated throughout the action plan and to all care leavers. I thought the creation of the icons was really effective as it displayed the understanding of different levels of participation and that they wanted to communicate this throughout their action plan. It was also put in a simple and understandable format. In addition, the ‘you said, we did’ leaflet showed their commitment to ensuring that all care leavers understand what changes have happened.
The local authority also created a simple but effective ‘you said, we did’ leaflet ensuring that they communicated changes and decisions with their care leaver population. The story is significant as it shows the commitment to involving care leavers and recognising the different levels of Home
Introduction
What participants did
Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
Learn more about Coram Voice’s New Belongings: In Focus programme.
Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to evaluate change made by Leaving Care Learning Programme participants 13
Leicestershire Cares Consistent and trusted relationships Leicestershire Cares run a mentoring programme which pairs young people with care experience with a mentor to be a critical friend and another adult to listen and support them with the transition to independence. In this story, one of the staff involved in the mentoring programme talks about the value of the project.
This story touches on the personal and professional nature of relationships within the programme. It talks about the importance of the matching process for mentors, but also emphasises that it felt important to the young person that their mentor was a volunteer and hence unpaid.
The most significant positive change I have seen is the successful development of our care leaver mentor programme. This is an ambitious and extremely worthwhile project which has the potential to significantly change the lives of care experienced young adults. I have had the opportunity to support and guide a young woman who has the goal of studying physics at university, sharing my experience and network. I have witnessed her grow in confidence and purpose whilst facilitating access to information and services which would otherwise have been beyond her grasp. The most powerful thing she said to me was that I am one of the few, if not the only, adult supporter who is not paid to work
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Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
with her, and that has meant a great deal to her. It made me realise the advantage my own children have with a mother who has contacts, skills and experience to help them to university as opposed to someone who has no support network. The cross-stakeholder approach involves Leicestershire Cares, potential business mentors and the care experienced young people themselves – taking account of all inputs and managing expectations. There was comprehensive training to carefully match young people with business mentors who met their particular needs.
Learn more about what Leicestershire Cares offers care experienced young people and professionals working with them. Appendix
Stories of change: Using Most Significant Change to understand outcomes for young people leaving care 14
Appendix Most Significant Change Template
3. What features of the programme, in your view, made the biggest difference? Most Significant Change: Story collection template and consent form The Centre for Youth Impact is working with Renaisi and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation to help them understand the most important areas of learning from the Leaving Care Learning programme. The Centre is using a process based on the Most Significant Change process to help them achieve this. This involves collecting short ‘stories of change’ from a number of staff involved in delivering the programme, which will be discussed and analysed by staff from programme delivery organisations, and the Centre for Youth Impact at an event in December 2021. A further thematic analysis may also be conducted on all stories to extract key themes. Please complete the form below, and record your story, either in writing, or as an audio file, and send to Steve Hillman at the Centre for Youth Impact: steve.hillman@youthimpact.uk Name:
These responses will be discussed and analysed at an event in December 2021. The stories identified as those representing the most significant learning will be fed back to all respondents. I consent to my response being analysed and discussed at the December 2021 event I consent to secondary thematic analysis being conducted on my response I consent to my response being used for communications purposes such as funder reports, other people involved in the project, annual reports, etc.
Organisation: Date: 1. Please tell us a short story, no more than 5 – 6 sentences, that, based on your experience, shows the most significant positive change you have seen since the start of the Leaving Care Learning Programme? This could be a change in a young person, an organisation, a policy or practice?
2. Why was this story significant for you?
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What participants did
Reflections from participants
Most Significant Change stories
Appendix
Author Louisa Thomson Renaisi Associate
Kings Place 90 York Way London N1 9AG T 020 7812 3700 communications@esmeefairbairn.org.uk www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk Registered charity 200051 @EsmeeFairbairn Home
