The primary aim of our Research and Evaluation department is to ensure we are appropriately supporting the children, parents and families with whom we work and providing the best possible service. As well as monitoring the impact of our current work, the department also undertakes exploratory research using data collected over a number of years, allowing us to challenge our methods, assist in identification of good practice and support continued growth of a quality-based, effective practice. New Philanthropy Capital’s Formal Charity Recommendation states “The Place2Be has one of the most sophisticated outcomes measurement systems NPC has seen.” Where possible, The Place2Be uses evaluation measures that have been externally validated for reliability. For example, we use the Goodman Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for our therapeutic work with children and the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) in the evaluation of our parent work. In addition, our Research and Evaluation department uses qualitative techniques such as interviews, focus groups and case studies to record the thoughts and feelings of the children and adults who access our services, which allows us to explore the ‘story' behind the statistical data. We compile this data into annual reports which are used both internally at The Place2Be and externally by our funders and other stakeholders. Supporting our own evidence-base are the independent evaluation findings from external bodies such as Ofsted, and impact evaluations commissioned by our funders (for example the Children's Funds and the Scottish Executive, among others). These objective accounts of our work support our understanding of the outcomes of the interventions offered to children, offer external validity to our own research and evaluation findings and highlight areas for further development. The work of our Research and Evaluation department also plays a vital role in the early stages of new hub developments, prior to our teams being established in the schools. Data is collected which informs a longitudinal study on the impact of our work on the whole school community over time and is also used to inform local understanding of the need for our services. As The Place2Be expands as part of the Now, not Later campaign we need to ensure we have a robust, organisation-wide evaluation framework that encompasses all of our services, supported by skilled resource which will provide leading-edge clinical thinking to inform the organisation’s ongoing development and growth. The underlying factors driving the need for our Research and Evaluation department are as follows: • The Place2Be’s goal to achieve a step change in the numbers of children and parents/carers that we reach as part of the Now, not Later campaign; • Robust internal evaluation systems are required to promote and ensure quality; • Sound evaluation systems and measurement of outcomes helps to support our cases for funding; • Provide reassurance to our existing schools, their Boards of Governors as well as the agencies with whom we work of the effectiveness of our services; • Provide potential schools with confidence in our capabilities and help us to promote our services in new areas; • Demonstrate the effectiveness of our training courses to potential clients enabling us to make a further step-change in the numbers of children and parents who will benefit from our mental health service; and • Working with 80,000 children across the UK by 2010, we can provide a valuable contribution to models of best practice as well as inform those at a policy level with tangible evidence of the needs and effectiveness of service delivery in the field of children’s mental health and early intervention.