The ‘Mainstreaming’ Study
Research and Evaluation Programme Outline
The Mainstreaming Programme
The Mainstreaming Programme is the title given to a new programme of action being undertaken by
Tulsa, the Child and Family Agency as part of its National Service Delivery Model. The programme
which is funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies, Ireland is driven by a series of medium-term and
long-term outcomes as follows.
Medium Term Outcomes (2015-2017):
1. TUSLA’s prevention and early intervention system is operating effectively, delivering a high
quality, standardised and consistent service to children and families in each of the 17
management areas
2. TUSLA service commissioning is increasingly rigorous and evidence-informed and privileges
prevention and early intervention
3. A strategic approach to parenting is increasingly delivering cost-effective better practice and
better outcomes for parents and children, thus reducing inequalities
4. Children and families are increasingly aware of available supports and are less likely to fall
through gaps, as all relevant services are working together in TUSLA’s prevention and early
intervention system
5. The participation of children and parents is embedded in TUSLA’s culture and operations
Long Term Outcomes (2018 and beyond):
1. Intensive implementation support has delivered transformative change in TUSLA policies
and practice in family support, child welfare and protection, leading to enhanced child and
family wellbeing, less abuse and neglect and a changed profile of children in care
2. Improved outcomes for children and parents and value for money in service provision
achieved through shifting TUSLA’s Family Support Budget in favour of evidence informed,
prevention and early intervention services
3. TUSLA is recognised as a best practice model nationally and internationally in delivering on
the public sector reform objective of the cost-effective achievement of better outcomes for
children and families, based on a core commitment to prevention and early intervention
These outcomes will be achieved through an integrated programme of work, spanning the
application of a new model of early intervention and support, through to the embedding of
evidence-based commissioning within Tusla. It will involve significant workforce development
activities covering the implementation of new early intervention structure and processes, evidencebased commissioning, children’s participation and parenting. This will be allied to a public education
programme towards increasing understanding encourage service take-up by parents.
The Mainstreaming Programme is strongly connected to Irish State policy best represented in Better
Outcomes Brighter Futures, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (DCYA,
2014). That document’s transformative goals and national outcomes are strongly reflected in the
implementation plans for the Mainstreaming Programme. The programme will also be strongly
aligned with the forthcoming High Level Policy Statement on Parenting and Family Support from the
DCYA.
Research and Evaluation
The UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI,
Galway will undertake a focused programme of research and evaluation on the implementation and
outcomes from the Mainstreaming Programme. Funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies Ireland, the
Galway University Foundation and National University of Ireland, the research and evaluation study
is built on one overarching question and a set of sub-questions which reflect the planned activities
and intended outcomes.
Overarching Question
The overarching evaluation question to be addressed is whether the organisational culture and
practice of Tusla and its partners is changing such that services are more integrated, preventative,
evidence informed and inclusive of children and parents. If so, is this contributing to improved
outcomes for children and their families? This overall question breaks down further into a set of
questions reflecting the medium term outcomes outlined above.
Sub-questions
1. Are Child and Family Support Networks established across all 17 management areas with
meaningful engagement from a wide spectrum of practitioners and delivering timely
integrated support to children, young people and families with additional needs?
2. Have levels of public knowledge about Tusla and its Prevention, Partnership and Family
Support increased over the life of the programme?
3. Is service commissioning rigorous and evidence-informed?; does it privilege prevention and
early intervention?
4. Is there a strategic approach to parenting in place within Tusla? Is it resulting in costeffective better practice? Is participation by parents embedded in the structures and culture
of Tusla?
5. Is participation by children embedded in the structures and culture of Tusla?
More specific questions have been developed based on detailed plans for the Mainstreaming
Programmme developed by Tusla.
While the evaluation will be strongly outcome-focused and ‘summative’ in nature, with final
evaluation outputs containing statements of judgement on programme value, it will also have a
strong ongoing focus on implementation and will be ‘formative’, in that learning from the evaluation
will be fed into the programme on an ongoing basis. Self-evaluation processes will be established
alongside the external evaluation. A work-package approach will be adopted involving research and
evaluation sub-studies on the main areas of activity within the Mainstreaming Programme. The
research and evaluation programme is avowedly mixed methods in orientation, with a range of
research and evaluation methods and approaches to be adopted and attendant data analysis
strategies. There are some aspects of the programme for which detailed plans are not yet ready,
and / or which will evolve as programme implementation becomes more extensive. Plans for
research and evaluation will develop alongside these more evolutionary aspects.