Why do we do what we do | Practical tools and tips

Data is available from various sources that can help you understand your context, key stakeholders, and the needs of the young people you support. You can access useful data from the LGA and the ONS.  Your organisation may also have data about past programs and services.

Be aware of different levels of data quality when using data to drive decision-making (see Question Six).

Starting point

Start here if you are a youth practitioner new to evaluation and quality improvement design:

Asking good questions about why you do what you do

If you’re starting out, then this introduction and workbook developed by the College is a great place to begin. It will help you reflect on the assumptions underpinning your youth provision, examine the evidence that points to the need for your work, and establish a strong rationale for it.

Read the framework

Equitable Development Toolkit - Community Mapping

Are you looking to understand inequalities in your local area and explore need through an equity lens?  Community Mapping can help do this and this guide by Policy Link (2002) will support you to take this approach.

Access the guide

Benchmarking your local area

You can compare your local area to others using government data on the LGA website in terms of academic achievement, U18 pregnancy, numbers of looked after children, and other indicators. This may help you establish the strengths and the needs in the community you serve, and articulate the change you aim to make.

Go to site

Establishing the need and opportunities for your work

You can use government data to understand the broader picture of your local area in terms of how it rates on various indices of deprivation and how it compares to other areas. This may help you establish the strengths and the needs in the community you serve, and articulate the change you aim to make.


 

Go to site

Advanced

Resources to build on your experience of evaluation frameworks and continuous quality improvement:

Mapping the influence of different stakeholder groups

If you’re looking to review who your stakeholders are and map power relationships, this power mapping tool found at ProjectManagment.com can help.  Understanding which stakeholder groups influence on your work can help direct your energy and resources for maximum effect - prioritising relationships to strengthen and identifying who you need to influence.

Go to site

Find different sources of data to establish your context

The College’s Data for Decision Making tool will provide youth practitioners with access to and insights on publicly available data sets in education, employment, health, crime, people, and place.

View here

Using Community Mapping to engage young people as local advocates

If you want practical advice on how to engage young people to become powerful advocates for the transformation of their local communities and more civically minded, read this how-to guide to community mapping published by Preston City Council in 2011.

Read the report

Aligning with local priorities for Health & Wellbeing outcomes

If the work you do aims to improve the health and wellbeing of young people, then knowing more about how your local council has implemented the government’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment initiative can help build a strong rationale for your work.

Search ‘JSNA+ your local council’ to find the data– there isn’t a central database.

Go to site
magnifying glass

Case study

An organisation developed its understanding of its context through a patchwork approach. Their staff paired up, and each explored an aspect of the community – the place, the people, the culture, the policies affecting it, its strengths, data sets, and local residents’ views. For example, they used their Local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment data set to identify that young people’s access to GPs was a particular need in the area that they work in. These different pieces came together to enable the organisation to clearly situate its programmes to build on community strengths and address community needs.