SOS Children’s Villages International: Measuring the Long-Term Impact of Family-Like Child Care and Family Strengthening Social Services and Key Results
2Research and Learning, SOS Children's Villages International
Until recently, SOS Children’s Villages International, like many other organisations, lacked a rigorous approach to gauging long-term impact. With this in mind, SOS Children’s Villages International developed a social impact assessment methodology, in order to measure the long-term effects of its services on children, their families and communities and the financial impact on society (social return on investment). The assessments are carried out by external independent researchers.
At the 2016 FICE conference in Vienna we had the opportunity of presenting our methodology in a poster presentation and presenting first findings from seven locations across Africa and Asia. Since then, we have expanded our methodology to include case stories and other improvements, and have also consolidated findings from more countries across more regions.
These findings are outlined in the report “70 years of impact, improving the lives of children without parental care” which is to be published in April 2019 and which brings together the findings of previous and current impact assessments carried out by the organisation since 2002 from 37 countries. The report outlines the impact of two main services for children who have lost or are at risk of losing parental care, these being family strengthening and family-like child care. The report also explores the impact of the services in communities, the contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, the social return on investment and highlights areas for improvement.
The workshop at the conference will outline the background, methodology, related challenges, and main findings and implications for policy and practice. Special attention will be given to the experiences of former participants included in the assessments of family-like care and family strengthening services. The workshop participants will have a chance to reflect on the key findings, ask questions and share their experiences of impact measurement, child care services, and related challenges.