Children’s Services and Family Support
How do we best support families and carers to support children at risk of violence outside the home?
At the Youth Endowment Fund, child protection and safeguarding are central to our mission and underpin everything we do. We aim to prevent children from being drawn into violence. We think any credible plan to reduce violence has to recognise that children rely on seven essential sectors to be safe, one of which is Children’s Services. In each sector, we are working with delivery organisations and system leaders to better understand and deliver on the changes most likely to reduce violence.
There is so much we can all do to keep children and carers safe. Our job is to make it easy to know what works and to help you make it happen. That includes strengthening family support services so families facing challenges can access the right help at the right time, creating a safe and loving environment where children can get the care they need.
Why are we focusing on Children’s Services?
There is a wide range of interventions and services to help families deal with the challenging situations they’re facing. This involves addressing critical issues such as parental conflict, domestic abuse, and broader safeguarding concerns. Our goal is to build knowledge about the most effective ways to support families, carers and young people within the children’s services system.
The system we’re focusing on is the children’s social care system which is responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people who may be at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation. It encompasses a range of interventions, assistance and services aimed at ensuring that children grow up in safe, stable, and nurturing environments where their needs are met, and their rights are protected. These include:
- Parenting programmes
- Family therapy
- Domestic abuse interventions
- Family support services
- Support for children at risk outside the home
Toolkit Evidence for Children’s Services and Family Support Services
The YEF Toolkit compiles extensive research on programmes that support children and strengthen family support services to prevent involvement in violence. Our aim is to help leaders take the right steps based on the best available evidence. It includes the estimated impact of different approaches on reducing violence, and the strength and security of the underlying evidence base.
The Toolkit offers practical, accessible guidance to professionals and leaders in family support services. It helps identify the best approach to support children and young people at risk, so decisions about commissioning, funding, and delivery are grounded in what is most likely to make a real difference.
| Estimated impact | approaches | evidence quality |
|---|---|---|
|
HIGH
(30%+ less violence)
|
Trauma-specific therapies |
1
2
3
4
5
|
| Cognitive Behavioural Therapy |
1
2
3
4
5
|
|
|
MODERATE
(10%-30% less violence)
|
Functional Family Therapy (FFT) |
1
2
3
4
5
|
| Multi-Systemic Therapy |
1
2
3
4
5
|
|
|
LOW
(2%-9% less violence)
|
Parenting programmes |
1
2
3
4
5
|
| Adventure and Wilderness Therapy |
1
2
3
4
5
|
|
|
NO CLEAR EVIDENCE
|
Trauma-informed training and service redesign | |
Explore more approaches on YEF’s Toolkit summarising the best available research evidence on preventing children and young people’s involvement in violence.
Cognitive behavioural therapy: most effective approach
The YEF Toolkit indicates that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has a high impact on reducing reoffending and violence. CBT aims to help children and young people manage negative thoughts and develop safer responses to challenging situations.
Through structured sessions, children and young people learn how to manage strong emotions and understand that there are consequences for their actions. Programmes can be delivered to individuals or groups in schools, youth justice settings and through community and family support services, making it a flexible and scalable intervention.
Research on CBT highlights that it has reduced crime by an average of 27%. Children and young people already involved in the criminal justice system tend to see the greatest impact.
Our confidence in the evidence is moderate. Some studies show greater impact than others, and results can vary depending on how well programmes are implemented.
Changing Practice
What should children’s services providers do to prevent violence?
In May 2026 we’ll publish our Family Support Practice Guidance. Through this guidance we’re aiming to provide children’s services leaders across England and Wales with actionable advice on how to support the prevention of youth violence. When incidents of youth violence occur, the impacts are keenly felt by the peers, workers, families and communities that surround the children involved.
Children’s Services leaders are often left asking, what role can we play to prevent violence in the future? This guidance will aim to answer this question by setting out clear, evidence-informed actions that strengthen child protection and safeguarding practice across local systems.
Changing the system
In December 2026, we’ll publish a report outlining the 5-10 ways the children’s services system could make it easier to do what works to keep children safe from violence. We will be working with a Strategic Group of senior leaders across children’s services and family support services to help us shape these recommendations. The report will be informed by the evidence YEF has already produced, evaluations that will be completed by March 2026, and new research that YEF will commission following advice from the Strategic Group.
Find out how you can get involved with YEF
You are invited to join our events specifically for the children’s services sector, to see how we can collectively tackle violence prevention for young people.
Get Involved – Children’s Services News
If you’re passionate about improving opportunities and outcomes for young people, and would like to learn more about what works to prevent youth violence, then sign-up below to get the latest updates and opportunities.
FAQs About Children & Family Support Services
Is there guidance specifically for family support services?
In May 2026, we will publish the Family Support Practice Guidance. This will provide insight to children’s services leaders to better support families and prevent youth violence.
How do family support services contribute to youth crime prevention?
Family support services play a crucial role in preventing youth crime by addressing the challenges that can increase a child’s risk of becoming involved in violence. Using the YEF Toolkit, leaders and practitioners in the children’s services sector can identify evidence-based approaches that are most likely to reduce offending and serious violence.
Family support services can reduce the likelihood that children and young people become involved in offending by intervening before problems escalate.
What is YEF doing to build more evidence?
We are funding several projects exploring key questions related to parenting interventions; Multi-Systemic Therapy; Functional Family Therapy; interventions for children affected by domestic abuse, and multi-agency support for children at risk of harm outside the home. Projects include new evaluations, secondary data analysis projects and systems research.
View all of YEF’s Funding and Evaluation projects.