Evaluation of the Mockingbird programme
The Project
We have been asked to evaluate the Mockingbird programme is part of the Department for Education (DfE) funded Supporting Families: Investing in Practice programme, which is expanding and rolling out promising interventions that came through the DfE’s Innovation Programme.
The Mockingbird programme is delivered by The Fostering Network. It is an innovative method of foster care using the Mockingbird Family Model, which is an extended family model that provides sleepovers and short breaks, peer support, regular joint planning and training, and social activities.
This evaluation aims to assess the impact of the Mockingbird programme on placement stability (as measured by the rate of unplanned placement endings), on foster carer retention (as measured by the rate of de-registration of foster carers), and on changes in well-being of children in care (as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire).
The seven new sites funded to roll-out the Mockingbird programme, taking part in this evaluation are:
Barnsley Council;
Cheshire East Council;
Sheffield City Council;
South Tyneside Council;
Wakefield Council;
Warrington Borough Council;
Together4Children Regional Permanency Partnership (Shropshire Council, Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Telford & Wrekin Council
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Research Team
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Project Details
Research Team
More Projects
-
Belonging in education: co-designing an evidence-informed model of practiceApril 2025 - March 2026Building on previous work, this project focuses on progressively working towards building more equitable and inclusive education systems, where belonging is the guiding principle.
-
Evaluation of the Pupil Premium Plus Post-16 ProgrammeSeptember 2022 - March 2025The Rees Centre is working in partnership with Cordis Bright on an evaluation for the Department for Education of its Pupil Premium Plus Post-16 programme.
-
Analysis of Costs in Traditional and Early Permanence Adoption RoutesDecember 2023A newly completed project report exploring the costs of adoption in early permanence and traditional adoption routes is now available.
-
Understanding and responding to the needs of kinship families from Black and Asian communitiesApril 2023 - October 2024Working in partnership with Kinship and supported by the KPMG Foundation this study will focus on kinship carers from Black and Asian communities, using interviews and standardised measures to better understand their experiences and needs and provide recommendations for practice and policy.
-
Future of CareNovember 2021 - October 2024National charity, Become, is working with the Rees Centre to develop a new tool to measure the success of care leavers.
-
Family Routes: Growing up in adoptive and Special Guardianship familiesNovember 2021 - December 2028If you would like to join the study or have any questions, you can contact the research team on: Family.
More News
-
NewsNew report calls for stronger support as virtual school heads’ duties extend to children with a social workerOctober 7, 2025
-
BlogBelonging and becoming: Rethinking children’s identity development in foster care and adoptionSeptember 29, 2025
-
BlogReflections on the latest Rees Centre lunchtime webinar: Pathways into and through Higher Education for young people with experience of children’s social careJuly 17, 2025
-
BlogEnding child maltreatment: reflections on a Rees Centre webinar from Ben PerksJuly 11, 2025