They have agreed in principle to join forces to create a single 'what works centre' on children and families covering both early intervention and children’s social care.
The move was initially proposed in The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
The merger of the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) and What Works for Children’s Social Care (WWCSC) will bring together two what works centres to create a single organisation, covering the full range of support for children and families.
This includes preventative approaches, early intervention and targeted support for those at risk of poor outcomes, through to child protection and children’s social care services.
Discussions regarding a potential merger were announced by EIF and WWCSC in May.
EIF and WWCSC will now move towards the legal merger of the two charities, which is expected to conclude by spring 2023. An executive chair will oversee the merger process, and recruitment into this post will begin shortly.
Professor Nick Pearce, chair of the board of trustees of the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF), said, ‘We are very pleased to be joining forces with What Works Children’s Social Care. In doing so, we will continue to build on the strong work that EIF has done since it was established nearly 10 years ago. This means championing early intervention across a broad sweep of service areas, reaching out to policy teams and leaders across government and Whitehall, and working to join the dots between national policy and local delivery.
‘Through this merger, we will be able to combine the best of both organisations and ensure there are some vital lines of continuity – making the case for early intervention, conducting high-quality research, understanding the sector and providing effective guidance – running through all our work together.’
Jenny Coles, chair of the board of trustees of What Works for Children’s Social Care (WWCSC), said,‘We are delighted to be joining forces with EIF to further our reach and ultimately achieve better outcomes for children and families. As a merged organisation there will be greater opportunities to fill evidence gaps by undertaking more ambitious and necessary research into what works.
‘The children’s social care sector is facing seismic change and a single what works centre will be well placed to support reform and create an evidence-based and evidence-generating system that works for everyone. We look forward to pooling expertise with our EIF colleagues and creating an exciting new organisation together.’
