Resilient Families

In 2009 the NSW Government introduced a five-year action plan, Keep Them Safe, to reshape the way family and community services are delivered in the NSW and to improve the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. The plan has brought an expanded role for the non-government sector and stronger relationships between government and NGOs. It also reflects a commitment by the NSW Government to preventative and early intervention services to deliver better and more cost-effective social outcomes.

The Resilient Families service is an innovative and evidence-based, intensive family preservation service delivered by The Benevolent Society. The service is designed to address concerns about the safety and wellbeing of children that, if unaddressed, are likely to result in their entry into statutory out-of-home care.

The Benevolent Society has been delivering Resilient Families since October 2013, under one of the NSW Social Benefit Bond (SBB) pilots in which private investors provide up-front funding to service providers to deliver improved social outcomes. The funds provided under an SBB are intended to expand social investment into prevention and early intervention approaches that otherwise may not receive sufficient funding. If outcomes are delivered the cost-saving to the government can be used to pay back the investor’s principal and provide a return on investment, with the return on investment dependent on the degree of improvement in social outcomes and the structure of the SBB.

ARTD Consultants were engaged by the NSW Office of Social Impact Investment to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of the RF service and to assess the appropriateness of the TBS SBB measures.

The evaluation was undertaken in two stages, using a theory-based, mixed-methods design with the process, outcomes and economic components.

The process evaluation was the focus of Stage 1, examining the implementation and costs of the RF service and laying the groundwork for the outcomes evaluation; firstly, establishing the comparability of the Index and Control Cohorts, and then outlining ways in which outcomes would be measured.

In Stage 2 the focus of the evaluation shifted to the outcomes evaluation while continuing to monitor key implementation factors including targeting, timeliness, family engagement, and service focus, duration and intensity. Stage 2 also included a case file review to understand the business-as-usual service being provided to Control families.

The evaluation delivered five reports over five years. The first four reports are now available on the NSW Office of Social Impact Investment website: https://www.osii.nsw.gov.au/tools-and-resources/evaluation-of-the-social-impact-investment

The evaluation reports publicly available show the positive impact the program has had on children entering out-of-home-care. They also provide learnings and recommendations to refine the program delivery as well as the outcome measures used to calculate performance under the bond.