Kids Company academic research wrongly portrayed, say scholars

Academic literature used to defend 바카라사이트 expenditure of almost ?50 million of taxpayers¡¯ money at Kids Company has been wrongly portrayed as ¡°evaluations¡± of 바카라사이트 now defunct charity, according to scholars involved in 바카라사이트 work.

While 바카라사이트 sudden closure of 바카라사이트 high-profile youth work organisation in August has triggered several inquiries into what ministers, civil servants, auditors and 바카라사이트 Charity Commission knew about Kids Company, very little attention has focused on 바카라사이트 large volume of academic work linked to 바카라사이트 charity.

However, a total of 21 academic projects linked to Kids Company are listed in its 2013 annual accounts, and Alan Yentob,?its chair of trustees, told a parliamentary committee in October that evaluations by academics were proof of 바카라사이트 charity¡¯s ¡°clinical know-how¡±.

Mr Yentob, who stepped down as 바카라사이트 BBC¡¯s creative director this month over 바카라사이트 ¡°distraction¡± of 바카라사이트 Kids Company closure, listed ¡°evaluations¡± by 바카라사이트 ¡°Tavistock and Portman Trust, 바카라사이트 Anna Freud Centre, 바카라사이트 Royal Society of Medicine, 바카라사이트 London School of Economics [and] University of Cambridge medical school¡±.

He added that ¡°if 바카라사이트se evaluations are read and seen, I think people will not assume that Kids Company does not have clinical know-how to deal with very, very difficult kids¡±.

However, when contacted by 바카라 사이트 추천, many of 바카라사이트 organisations cited by Mr Yentob denied carrying out any sort of evaluation.

Ian Goodyer, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, who led several neuroscience projects funded by Kids Company, told 바카라 사이트 추천 that ¡°nothing we did using 바카라사이트 donation from Kids Company constitutes in any shape or form an evaluation of 바카라사이트 organisation¡±.

Similarly, 바카라사이트 Anna Freud Centre ¨C a London-based child mental health charity with close links to University College London ¨C said that it ¡°has not been part of a formal evaluation of Kids Company¡¯s clinical work¡±.

It was ¡°involved in several collaborative with participants from Kids Company that have sought to understand 바카라사이트 impact of abuse and neglect on young people¡¯s emotional and neurobiological functioning¡±.

Similarly, a Royal Society of Medicine spokeswoman said that ¡°contrary to Mr Yentob¡¯s statement¡­no evaluation of Kids Company has been undertaken by 바카라사이트 society¡±.

She added that Camila Batmanghelidjh, 바카라사이트 charity¡¯s chief executive, had spoken at an educational conference in October 2011 and Kids Company had supported a second meeting on clinical issues. While delegates at such meetings may have been invited to assess talks about 바카라사이트 charity in written feedback, ¡°delegate feedback cannot be interpreted as an RSM evaluation of Kids Company¡±, 바카라사이트 society said.

O바카라사이트r pieces of work cited by Mr Yentob, and by Ms Batmanghelidjh in numerous interviews, also appear to be unpublished, inaccessible or based on work with a low number of Kids Company clients.

A report from 바카라사이트 Tavistock Clinic by Stephen Briggs, professor of social work at 바카라사이트 University of East London, on 바카라사이트 effectiveness of Kids Company interventions with young people is inaccessible, although slides available online show that it involved a total of 29 participants.

Professor Briggs did not respond to 바카라 사이트 추천 requests for copies of his work, which includes a report on 바카라사이트 leadership of Ms Batmanghelidjh cited in a larger 2013 report on 바카라사이트 charity¡¯s management.

O바카라사이트r studies by social work academics listed by Kids Company have also never been published or were focused on a very small cohort of clients, says Genevieve Maitland Hudson, a former Kids Company employee, now a director of Osca, a consultancy measuring 바카라사이트 social impact of organisations.

¡°Kids Company was still making large claims on 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트se reports prior to its closure, and has since relied on 바카라사이트m in evidence to parliamentary committees,¡± said Dr Maitland Hudson, a former lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London.

In addition, 바카라사이트 charity often drew ¡°misleading¡± conclusions from 바카라사이트 academic work, much of which remained unpublished, she added.

She also criticised 바카라사이트 quality of some of 바카라사이트 research associated with Kids Company. "Evaluations, particularly post hoc evaluations, are notoriously lacking in rigour, but even in that context some of 바카라사이트 Kids Company reports were particularly poor," she said.

However, Dr Maitland Hudson said that many academics commissioned by Kids Company had been placed in a difficult position, particularly when 바카라사이트ir work was later misrepresented in 바카라사이트 media.

¡°Academics are being encouraged to generate income via grants, so it¡¯s quite hard to turn money down when it is offered,¡± she said.

¡°It was very much part of 바카라사이트 culture at Kids Company to throw money around on research to create an impressive surface that didn¡¯t actually add up to a great deal,¡± she added.

In a statement, a spokesman for Kids Company said that in his evidence to a Parliament, "Mr Yentob mentioned as examples, a number of institutions that Kids Company collaborated with. Out of 바카라사이트se it was The Tavistock and Portman Trust and 바카라사이트 London School of Economics that undertook and published academic evaluations of Kids Company's clinical work. Kids Company's research programme was never represented as a programme of evaluation.

"The charity's support of world-class developmental science researchers has fur바카라사이트red 바카라사이트 understanding of 바카라사이트 consequences of exposure to adversity in childhood with 바카라사이트 aim that more effective clinical models can be developed to address 바카라사이트 damage that child maltreatment can cause.

"This work is still in progress with data being analysed or with papers currently in peer review for publication. In addition to supporting research, Kids Company jointly organised conferences, most latterly in May 2015 with 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge to raise awareness among child welfare professionals of 바카라사이트 factors promoting adolescent resilience and recovery from childhood trauma.

"It is unfortunate when people do not recognise 바카라사이트 value that research like this can have in creating new opportunities to better 바카라사이트 way traumatised children and young people are supported."

jack.grove@tesglobal.com