Evaluating the Impact of Place-Based Early Years Interventions of Aberlour’s Family Support Service at Langlees, Falkirk
The Issue
Scotland is committed to ensuring children and young people grow up with the best chances to flourish. The Children and Young People Act 2014 outlines the importance of Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and defines wellbeing through eight indicators: Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, and Included (SHANARRI). In 2024, Scotland also incorporated elements of the United Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into its domestic law, furthering its commitment to promoting children’s rights and making Scotland “the best place to grow up”.
To deliver on this commitment, efforts across a wide spectrum of complex and interlinked challenges faced by children and families are needed.
The Scottish children’s charity, Aberlour, delivers a range of vital services to a number of these children and families impacted by poverty, substance use, and disability, offering practical and emotional care and support to families across Scotland, including the Family Support through their Service at Langlees Family Centre, in Falkirk.
The Family Support Service addresses critical issues like trauma, abuse, and inequality with the aim of breaking cycles of hardship and creating opportunities for young people and their families to thrive. This is done from their base in the heart of the Langlees community and through outreach work across Falkirk.
Recognising the importance of this work to both the community and the local and wider authorities, Cattanach (Now known as Elevate Great) dedicated to the transformative power of early childhood relationships, partnered with Aberlour to better understand the critical role of Aberlour's services, and equip it with evidence driven insights through innovative econometric approaches. Over six months, Cattanach collaborated closely with Aberlour to identify the systemic challenges faced by children and families impacted by substance abuse to reframe the narrative around service evaluation. This process laid the foundation for the launch of our new collaborative project.
Building on their early insights, Cattanach engaged the Data for Children Collaborative to leverage our innovative approaches. Together we created a transdisciplinary team including researchers from the University of Dundee and the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde. This collaboration aims to demonstrate the value and impact of Aberlour’s services in a way that moves beyond traditional evaluation methods, by tackling complex challenges and supporting Aberlour’s case for continued financial investment to support the sustainability of their services.
Why Does it Matter?
This project represents a novel approach to supporting organisations whose mission is to help children in Scotland tackle complex issues they face. With an ultimate goal of driving systems change, we’ve partnered with Aberlour to highlight the value of their Family Support Service at Langlees, focusing on critical issues such as poverty, substance use, and disability, while addressing trauma, abuse, and inequality.
This effort aligns with our Theory of Change, which prioritises evidence-driven action to drive forward equity, well-being, and sustainable development through the responsible use of data. By partnering with third sector partners like Aberlour, we emphasise the importance of using data insights to demonstrate impact and enable systemic change.
Aberlour’s services at Langlees not only embody the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child but also advance key UN Sustainable Development Goals, including:
SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) by improving mental health and addressing trauma;
SDG 4 (Quality Education) through early childhood learning programs;
SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) by targeting the systemic barriers faced by vulnerable families.
Programs like Play Together, Learn Together sessions, trauma recovery, and mental health support reflect our shared commitment to ensuring every child receives the support and opportunities they deserve. This project aims to develop a replicable methodology to demonstrate the impact and value of such interventions.
Ultimately, this approach showcases the transformative power of early years services and reinforces the case for sustained investment, ensuring vital services like Aberlour’s continue making a lasting difference in the lives of Scotland’s children and families.
Our Project
Through the adoption of an innovative approach, our project integrates both qualitative and quantitative analyses in a dual-methodology framework to uniquely assess the value of Aberlour’s interventions on early years outcomes. Researchers from the University of Dundee are conducting econometric analyses to measure impacts, comparing Aberlour's health board data with control groups from other regions.
Simultaneously, Fraser of Allander Institute economists will incorporate these econometric results with survey insights from key stakeholders into a decision tree analysis. This method presents a novel approach to modeling potential outcomes, costs, and savings.
Our project not only measures the impact and value of Aberlour’s interventions but also innovatively identifies cost-effectiveness. By combining academic research with practical analysis, we aim to establish a repeatable, adaptable framework for evaluating other prevention programs, setting a new standard for demonstrating the value of early years services.
Who is Involved?
Cattanach (Elevate Great)