News 5 | Triangle

Equality in Evaluation

Posted on 11th November 202011th November 2020 by Donna

It is an exciting time to be part of the world of measurement and evaluation. Having attended three conferences this autumn, it is clear that those with a critique of the traditional ways of doing things are finding a voice, and being given a platform. In the wake of Black Lives Matter everyone seems more open to looking deeper into the implicit assumptions that we make about each other, and along with that, into the power dynamics of measurement and evaluation.

NPC ignites was one of these events and it was the session “Rebalancing data for the 21^st century” that really captured my attention. Jara Dean Coffey, Director of the Equitable Evaluation Initiative presented a five-year plan she is leading to change the way funders in the United States think about evaluation. Bonnie Chui of The Social Investment Consultancy is leading an initiative bringing together people of colour working in evaluation. Here were some of their key messages:

Co-create knowledge rather than extract data

Traditional approaches to the evaluation involve experts collecting data and taking it away to analyse and draw conclusions. The subjects of the evaluation are passive in the process. Bonnie described this as like using research as tool of ‘command and control’. Jara argued, like several others I have heard this year, that we learn more when knowledge is co-created – researcher and subject bringing together their very different expertise to build a more complete and informed picture. This is one way to challenge the power relationships in evaluation and promote greater equity. The Outcomes Star’s collaborative approach to measurement brings these ideas alive in day-to-day service delivery.

What is the Outcomes Star

The Star is underpinned by three values – empowerment, collaboration and integration

Find out more

Get comfortable with complexity

“We need to let go of causality and be OK with contribution”

Star Data

The Star collects an innovative and holistic dataset

Find out more

Jara made the case that although funders who commission evaluations want certainty and yes/no answers, the complex reality of service provision can’t be reduced to a few numbers. Funders and evaluators need to embrace the complexity that comes from working in open systems where it isn’t possible to control all the variables and come up with answers that are always true no matter what the context. Bonnie also made the point that top down funder-driven monitoring and evaluation frameworks can perpetuate power imbalances. It is difficult for funded organisations to raise these issues because of their dependence on the funders so it is important that evaluators use their influence. This very much echoes points we have been raising at Triangle for some time. Data is helpful but must be interpreted in context. The numbers help to focus our questions rather than providing definitive yes/no answers.

De-colonise evidence

Bonnie Chui argued that we need to ‘decolonise’ evidence and ensure that people of colour are both reached by research and represented in the research and evaluation community. Jara is promoting multi-cultural validity alongside statistical validity, a point which chimes with issues Triangle has raised about moving beyond traditional formulations of what is a ‘good’ tool (keep an eye on our homepage for a blog on this coming out soon).

Both presenters made the case that evaluation is a human process. Those doing the evaluation have to do their own personal work to understand their own implicit biases as well as those that are hardwired into the context in which they are working. The biases identified were racial ones as well as foundational ideas such as the preference for doing over being and our belief in scarcity rather than abundance.

I found it very inspiring to hear an analysis connecting up racism, core orientations towards life and the way services are valued and measured. I can’t do it all justice here, so I recommend that you take a look at the recording of the session.

Rebalancing data for the 21st century

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The Refugee Council reaches for the Star

Posted on 3rd November 202030th October 2020 by Donna

A major new tool to help refugees settle successfully in the UK is to be made available from this week – the Integration Star.

Created by Triangle, the social enterprise behind the Outcomes Star, in collaboration with the Refugee Council and others, the Integration Star focuses on eight key areas on which successful integration depends.

Triangle director Sara Burns said: “The Integration Star primarily focuses on the means and markers of successful integration, from employment and housing to education and health. It highlights refugees’ strengths, recognises the areas they need more information or support, and records their progress. Most importantly it makes them the centre of their own integration process.”

In a 7-8-month pilot of the new Star, caseworkers from a variety of organisations found that it opened up conversations with refugees on important subjects and gave workers a way in to providing crucial support.

“It really encouraged the client to have more autonomy in the conversation – it brought them to the centre of the discussion”

Case Worker

“The Star provoked conversations we wouldn’t normally have – like social isolation issues”

Case Worker

Getting to the heart of these issues means refugees can integrate faster and more successfully,.which will help them to rebuild their lives in their new home.

The Refugee Council approached Triangle in 2018 to develop a new version of the Outcomes Star that would support the refugees they work with. They and several community refugee organisations worked closely with Triangle throughout the process, making sure that former refugees were involved all the way along.

“This is such an important piece of work that feeds into the national strategy for integrating refugees. The Integration Star has already proved itself in a really rigorous pilot – now it can help in supporting refugees throughout the UK to build new lives.”

Sara Burns

"The Star gives organisations that work with refugees an extremely useful tool that can help to shape the support they offer as well as measure progress and impact. Successful refugee integration means that people are enabled to rebuild their lives and become active members of their new communities”

Refugee Council's Head of Integration Andrew Lawton

The Integration Star was published in September 2020 after 18 months of development and launched in October 2020 via the Star Online – the online home of the Outcomes Star.

In addition to the materials created to use the Integration Star, Triangle is producing a range of resources to support its launch, including a webinar to share more information on the development process and pilot.

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Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise is an innovative, mission-led organisation that exists to help people reach their highest potential and live meaningful and fulfilling lives, often in the context of social disadvantage, trauma, disability or illness.

The Refugee Council works with individuals and families to make sure they can live safe, fulfilling lives in the UK after being forced to seek refuge from persecution and human rights abuses overseas.

The development of this star was part funded by the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.

Other organisations taking part in the development of the Integration Star included: RETAS (Refugee Education Training Advice Service) Leeds, Leeds Refugee Forum, Path Yorkshire, Goodwin Development Trust, Humber Community Advice Services (H-CAS), Refugee Action Kingston, Iranian Association, Diversity Living Services, Bahar Women’s Association, Action for Community Development, West Yorkshire Somali Association, DAMASQ, Stepping Stone 4, Leeds Swahili Community.

To participate in the Triangle webinar on the development and application of the Integration Star, organisations should contact info@outcomesstar.org to register their interest.

Triangle developed and published a separate Star for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in 2019 – the Planning Star.

Please contact info@outcomesstar.org in the first instance to discuss the Integration Star, Planning Star or other aspects of Triangle’s work.

We’re looking for a new Finance & HR Administrator

Posted on 26th October 20204th February 2021 by Donna

WE’RE HIRING!

Do you have excellent organisation skills, consistency and an eye for detail? Can you learn quickly, be adaptable, flexible and be able to work in the ever-changing context of a growing organisation?

We are looking for a new Finance and HR Administrator, with a minimum of 2 years experience and who has AAT Level 2 qualification or similar, to provide a solid backbone to the organisation for all our financial and personnel aspects. As a key member of the team, you will work closely with our Directors, the Business Manager and other key staff, joining a friendly and dynamic team at the cutting-edge of thinking and practice in supporting and measuring service user change.

Triangle is the social enterprise behind the Outcomes Star. We are committed to supporting staff to reach their highest potential and there may be opportunities for personal development.

Initially this position will be based at home while Covid-related restrictions are in place. Thereafter, you will work from our Hove office and might be required to attend occasional meetings in London.

For more information about the position and to apply, you can download the job description and application form from our careers page

A Society in which everyone is able to thrive

Posted on 7th October 20206th October 2020 by Donna

Triangle Director Joy MacKeith reflects on the Social Value Matters 2020 international conference which took place last week and how it helped locate Triangle’s work in a wider movement for a fairer world.

The Social Value Matters 2020 conference was a truly immersive event. The organisers took the opportunity of moving the event online to create a 24-hour programme so there was something for everyone, in every time zone, at every possible hour of the day.

The result was a somewhat overwhelming amount of content but also a tremendous sense of being part of an international community looking for ways to measure things that really matter from environmental impact to worker’s rights to social inclusion. And importantly looking for ways to make sure these things are not only valued but drive decision-making as well.

What was most interesting and encouraging for me was hearing the way that diverse agendas seem to be converging.

Philanthropic organisations are more interested in systems change – understanding the underlying dynamics which keep the problems they are trying to address in place. Corporations are going beyond the traditional domain of corporate social responsibility to engage with wider issues such as inequality.

Governments are providing incentives to business owners to transfer ownership to their employees. Third sector organisations are using the language and practices of the market to express their achievements in terms that are engaging to governments and investors. It seems that it is becoming easier, at least for some, to talk across sectoral boundaries.

The wider vision that underpinned many of the contributions was the idea that if companies can be required to report on their environmental and social impact and demonstrate ethical governance (the ‘ESG’ agenda) then capitalism can start to serve the many and not just the few.

It seems that a growing number of investors want this and that many of the challenges are now technical – finding common metrics and benchmarks to allow comparability. Jeremy Nicolls, one of the founders of Social Value International, urged everyone to be pragmatic and make it happen rather than spend time in pursuit of an impossible perfection. There was a real sense of the possibility of change, and of the urgency too.

It all seemed a far cry from our Triangle world of supporting better conversations, enabling personal change and giving managers tools for service learning and development. However, it was good to put our mission of helping service providers transform lives into a wider global context. Triangle’s vision is a society in which everyone is able to thrive. Every contributor at the event was, in one way or another, addressing that cause. I hope that we can all find our place in the bigger picture so that we can play as full a part as possible in achieving this vision.

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Triangle is the social enterprise behind the Outcomes Star™. Triangle exists to help service providers transform lives by creating engaging tools and promoting enabling approaches. Through the Outcomes Star, they work with services to promote and measure individual change and to enable learning at an individual, service, organisation and sector-wide levels. The Outcomes Star™ is an evidence-based management tool for both supporting and measuring change. For more information email info@outcomesstar.org.

Triangle measures what matters at GO Lab’s Social Outcomes conference

Posted on 25th August 202025th August 2020 by Donna

Triangle’s Co-founder and Director contributes to GO Lab’s Social Outcomes conference programme to share learning from using the Well-being Star in a large social prescribing programme and how vital it is that measurement approaches are designed with relationship building and behaviour change in mind.

Hosted by The Government Outcomes (GO) Lab, the Social Outcomes conference brings together researchers, policymakers and practitioners working to improve social outcomes. Joy MacKeith, Triangle’s Co-founder and Director features at this year’s virtual event; she will share learning from 20 years of measuring individual outcomes to contribute to a debate about how commissioning approaches and Social Impact Bonds in particular can help or hinder the achievement of social outcomes.

Joy Said:

“When people design a Social Impact Bond or any other commissioning approach, they need to be mindful of how it will impact at the front line because that is where the real change happens. Research tells us that the quality of the engagement between workers and service users is absolutely critical to behaviour change but sometimes payment mechanisms can unintentionally impact in a negative way."

"The Outcomes Star has been designed to provide service-wide outcomes data whilst at the same time supporting that collaboration and helping people take the small steps that together add up to achieving their goals.“

Joy is joined by Tara Case, Chief Executive of Ways to Wellness – a large-scale social prescribing service and the first health service in the UK (and globally) with social impact funding. Ways to Wellness, with Bridges Fund Management as investors and Newcastle Gateshead CCG as commissioners, has been using the Well-being Star since 2015 as part of the support their service provides and to capture client-reported wellbeing improvements; the Star was specified in the outcomes-based funding contract for the programme.

Tara said:

“We have found that the Well-being Star helps to open up conversations that might have been hard to broach without it. It helps our Link Workers take a holistic approach and make links between different aspects of someone’s situation. It helps services to tailor what they do to support the person whilst also providing a standardised framework for reporting results.”

The Well-being Star was created for people living with a long-term health condition, to measure their progress in living as well as they can, and support self-management, rehabilitation and person-centred approaches. Triangle recently conducted further validation work on the Well-being Star within the Ways to Wellness service and shared their findings.

GO Lab’s Social Outcomes Conference runs 1^st-4^th September. Triangle is contributing to “Back to the Future? Learning from the UK”s experience with impact bonds: what should we take with us and what should we leave behind?” which takes place 15.30–17:00 (UK BST) on Tuesday, 1^st September. You can register to attend free of charge via Eventbrite.

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Ways to Wellness is a service for people in the west of Newcastle whose daily lives are affected by certain long-term health conditions. GPs and their primary care teams use social prescribing to refer patients to the service. Ways to Wellness adds to and complements the medical support that people receive, to help them feel more confident to manage their long-term conditions and make positive lifestyle choices. For more information email info@waystowellness.org.uk.

The Well-being Star and The Family Star Plus are available to all organisations with a Star licence, and full training can be given for workers and managers. For more information on the Outcomes Star, please contact us on info@outcomesstar.org or +44 (0) 207 272 8765.

Recent updates on the Well-being Star™ for adults self-managing health conditions

Posted on 24th August 202024th August 2020 by Donna

The Well-being Star is a holistic, person-centred, outcomes focused and strengths-based tool. It encourages people with long-term health conditions to consider a range of factors that have an impact on their quality of life.

The completed well-being Star — Figure 1

It was developed with DoH funding in collaboration with North East Essex PCT and can be used in a variety of settings from hospices to rehabilitation centres and social prescribing services. The Star supports and measures progress in eight areas identified by patients, health professionals and researchers as central to maximising well-being and independence when living with a long-term health condition (See Figure 1).

Service users may begin at the bottom of the Journey of Change (‘Not thinking about it’) and the aim is to progress to things the situation being ‘as good as it can be’.

We have recently conducted further validation work on the Well-being Star within Ways to Wellness, a social prescribing service using the Well-being Star. Ways to Wellness is an innovative service for people whose daily lives are affected by certain long-term health conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy or heart disease.

Our psychometric validation presents evidence that the eight outcome areas form a coherent measure, with no repetition and good sensitivity to detecting change. Since publishing the first version of this factsheet we have expanded the sample of link workers who have taken part in our peer-reviewed case study method for assessing how reliably workers apply the scales. The findings using the larger sample confirmed initial positive results showing good understanding of how to use the Well-being Star’s scale descriptions.

Chief Executive of Ways to Wellness, Tara Case is talking alongside our Strategic Director, Joy MacKeith, about the Well-being Star in the context of social prescribing and payment by results at the upcoming Government Outcomes Lab International Social Outcomes Conference.

Their session “Measuring what matters: an innovative outcomes tool capturing what is most important to beneficiaries” contributes towards the broader topic “Back to the Future? Learning from the UK’s experience with impact bonds: what should we take with us and what should we leave behind?” and takes place 15.30–17:00 (UK BST) on Tuesday, 1^st September. Register to attend free of charge via Eventbrite.

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Triangle is the social enterprise behind the Outcomes Star. Triangle exists to help people reach their highest potential. Through the Outcomes Star, they work with services to promote and measure individual change and to enable learning at an individual, service, organisation and sector-wide levels. The Outcomes Star is an evidence-based management tool for both supporting and measuring change. For more information email info@outcomesstar.org.

The Well-being Star is available to all organisations with a Star licence, and full training can be given for workers and managers. For more information on the Outcomes Star, please contact us on info@outcomesstar.org or +44 (0) 207 272 8765.

Triangle congratulates Frontline Manager of the Year 2020

Posted on 30th July 202029th July 2020 by Donna

Triangle announced the winner of the Frontline Manager of the Year category at The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) Employability Awards 2020 and congratulated Julia Marcus, London Borough of Camden Council on her achievement.

Triangle sponsored the Frontline Manager of the Year award and revealed the results of this category as part of ERSA’s virtual celebration, held to honour the achievements of those working to support jobseekers in their progression in to work.

Graham Randles, Triangle’s Managing Director awarded Julia Marcus, London Borough of Camden Council as this year’s winner. The award recognises her commitment to leading a frontline team to high performance and customer achievements.

Julia has supported hundreds of residents into work in Camden, using a personal and committed style that has made demonstrable impact on the local people. Julia took that learning and developed new ways of supporting residents into good work.

Julia spoke to ERSA further to receiving her award:

“I passionately believe that good quality employment support can be transformative. We do our best to provide accessible and relational support to residents. And by exploring a whole range of factors – including money, childcare, transport, housing and health – we’re able to get to the heart of the challenges that people face around work. I know there’s so many wonderful services out there, so I’m particularly proud that our approach has been recognised.”

Working with Camden Council, Julia developed the Somers Town Job Hub, a service that connects residents, services and employers around a shared mission to address long-term unemployment. The ‘hub model’ that Julia delivered in Somers Town has since provided a foundation for Good Work Camden, the borough’s new approach to employment support.

Graham Randles commented:

“It was an honour to present Julia with her Award – albeit virtually! Through her dedication, Julia has created a unique and individual approach to involving her local community to design a service. She’s shown an outstanding commitment to supporting jobseekers in their progression into work and is a very worthy winner of this important award.”

Finalists Lorna Beaton, Fedcap Scotland and Lesley Wood, Stockton Job Centre (nominated by Triage Central) were highly commended in the Frontline Manager of the Year category.

Award winners were announced as part of a virtual celebration on Thursday 23^rd July 2020. Further details about the ERSA Employability Award winners can be found on the ERSA website.

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For more information please email info@outcomesstar.org. Each Outcomes Star is carefully designed to support the organisations, frontline and keyworkers as well as remain accessible and user friendly for the service users that they support. Triangle have developed specific Outcomes Stars for use within the employment sector, including the Work Star and Pathway Star. Discover which Star is right for your sector.

The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) is the representative body for the employment support sector. ERSA’s membership spans the private, voluntary, and public sectors and ranges from large multi-nationals through to small specialist charities.

Triangle announces Frontline Manager of the Year at ERSA Employability Awards 2020

Posted on 14th July 202028th July 2020 by Donna

Triangle has sponsored the Frontline Manager of the Year award at The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) Employability Awards 2020. Triangle will announce the winner of this category on 22^nd July via an online video conference.

ERSA, the membership body for the employment support sector, hosts the Employability Awards, honouring the achievements of those working to support jobseekers in their progression in to work.

Triangle, the social enterprise behind the Outcomes Star, supports frontline workers across employment programmes and services, including skills provision, self-employment, and youth employment services.

The Employment Awards are now in their eight year and ERSA has added four new award categories for 2020 to better reflect the diversity of the sector. Triangle has sponsored The Frontline Manager of the Year – a new award category that recognises a frontline manager or team leader who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to leading their frontline team to excellent performance and customer achievements.

Graham Randles, MD of Triangle, said:

“Triangle is proud to sponsor this award given the importance and need to provide exceptional frontline support to jobseekers in their progression into work. The individuals in this category have shown an outstanding commitment and should be applauded for their vital work within their organisations and the sector at large.”

The shortlisted nominees for all categories were announced last month on UK Employability Day, which saw many organisations, including Triangle, unite across the country to show how they’re supporting people into work.

The finalists for Frontline Manager of the Year include:

Lorna Beaton, Fedcap Scotland
Julie, London Borough of Camden Council
Anne Higgins, Musselburgh Job Centre, nominated by Triage Central
Lesley Wood, Stockton Job Centre, nominated by Triage Central
Ben Wyse, SPS training Solutions

Graham added:

“The team and I are excited for ERSA’s upcoming Employment Awards ceremony and revealing who has won Frontline Manager of The Year 2020. Best of luck to all the nominees shortlisted for the Awards!”

Award winners will be announced as part of a virtual celebration on Wednesday 22^nd July 2020, 17:00 – 19:00 UK BST. Further details about the ERSA Employability Awards can be found on the ERSA website.

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For more information please email info@outcomesstar.org. Each Outcomes Star is carefully designed to support the organisations, frontline and keyworkers as well as remain accessible and user friendly for the service users that they support. Triangle have developed specific Outcomes Stars for use within the employment sector, including the Work Star and Pathway Star. Discover which Star is right for your sector.

Webinar: The Outcomes Star as a key work and evaluation tool in the employment sector

Posted on 7th July 2020 by Donna

On Wednesday 8^th July Triangle will be hosting an ERSA Webinar. This webinar is an introduction to the Outcomes Stars used in the Employability sector. The webinar will consist of an introduction to the Work Star and Pathway Star followed by a Q&A.

Reserve your place now

This webinar is a part of the ERSA Building Partnerships 2.0 summer webinar series.

The Outcomes Stars are evidence-based tools for measuring and supporting change when working with people. They are a great way for frontline services to demonstrate their impact whilst improving their keywork. The Work Star and the Pathway Star are both tailored specifically to the employment sector.

The Work Star has been designed for use with adults out of work or returning to the workplace. It provides a holistic framework for services to use when supporting service users, as well as a simple way of measuring progress to work.

The 3rd Edition of the Work Star was published in 2017 with input from the Department of Work and Pensions (Essex Social Justice Team), Prospects, Hounslow Council and The LightBulb.

The Pathway Star is the Outcomes Star for people overcoming barriers to work and is designed for use with people who need considerable support if they are to move towards work. This includes people currently facing significant barriers to work, such as health or housing problems, substance misuse, crime, domestic abuse, family culture (including generations of people not in work) or household finances.

The Pathway Star was developed by Triangle with service providers and commissioners from Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

On behalf of everyone here at Triangle we look forward to seeing you at the Webinar and would like to extend a big thanks to ERSA and finally please sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already.

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Each Outcomes Star is carefully created in collaboration with sector organisations, for more information on which Stars are suitable for your sector please contact us or take a look at Find your Star. If you have any questions on which Star to use, or if you would like any information on the new Star Online, or anything else, please contact us on info@outcomesstar.org or +44 (0) 207 272 8765.