Pilot evaluation report: PLIAS Step Up Programme

Summary

This is the final report from the pilot evaluation of Step Up, a programme run by PLIAS Resettlement.

Step Up was awarded a development grant from Youth Futures Foundation as part of the What Works programme to test youth employment interventions.

The evaluation was comissioned and conducted by IES.

What was Step Up?

Step Up delivered intensive one-to-one support to young people aged 16-24 who were not in employment, education or training (NEET) and were either involved in, or at risk of involvement in the criminal justice system.

Between October 2022 and March 2024, a total of 114 young people started on the Step Up programme from across six London Boroughs. Over two-thirds were living in Brent, reflecting PLIAS’s longstanding work in this borough.

Study aims ​

To understand:

• how the programme was delivered
• the outcomes that participants achieved
• the mechanisms through which outcomes were achieved
• Whether the programme would be suitable for a full impact evaluation (i.e. a randomised controlled trial or quasi-experimental design)

Evaluation approach

The evaluation took a mixed methods theory-based approach.

This report draws on programme management information data for participants engaged with the Step Up programme between October 2022 and March 2024, including outcomes data through to July 2024.

The evaluation also included analysis of a sample of 30 case notes, and qualitative interviews with:

• PLIAS managers and case workers
• 10 young people
• eight delivery partners

Key insights

The programme demonstrated some success in supporting young people to achieve education, employment or training outcomes: 25% of participants achieved a Level 1, 2 or 3 qualification and over one-third moved into employment or an apprenticeship.

Young people currently involved in the criminal justice system disengaged with Step Up in greater numbers to young people at risk of involvement. This may have led them to achieve fewer sustained employment outcomes and highlights the challenges of address the complex needs and barriers expressed by the cohort.

The strength and sustained nature of the trusted relationship between the young person and the Step Up case worker were identified as mechanisms for change and enabled the one-to-one support to be effective.

While limited in scope due to PLIAS’ organisational capacity, employer engagement in key sectors of interest to the participating young people such as construction, security or retail, was also seen as a key enabler.

Recommendations for future delivery

• Maximise staff retention through long-term contracts and competitive pay and terms & conditions relative to the local labour market.
• Consider the variation in needs and potential for engagement of participating young people according to their age and extent of their involvement in the justice system.
• Embed strength- and interest-based approaches at the heart of one-to-one support and as consistent feature of all participant journeys.

Next steps

A separate feasibility study concluded that Step Up was not suitable to a high-quality impact evaluation.

Using learnings from the Step Up programme, Youth Futures is continuing its long-standing partnership with PLIAS by collaborating to develop and deliver a promising and evaluable intervention targeting young adults with direct involvement in the criminal justice system.