Evaluation of the Parents, Childcare and Employment (PaCE) Project: process and outputs evaluation

This report considers:

• whether the programme is being delivered as intended
• the characteristics of participants
• the nature of support delivered
• the programme’s performance to date.  

Main findings

• 100% of PaCE participants had childcare responsibilities and 96% are female.
• Over a third of all participants progressed into work, substantially more than the 20% target.
• Parents had a lack of awareness and understanding of what childcare is available.  
• There appears to be a prevalence of low-level mental health issues amongst participants.  
• Participants’ motivation for engaging with PaCE vary, but many have a genuine desire to find work.
• Generally the participants had good relationships with their advisers.
• Participants who had undertaken work related volunteering placements were overwhelmingly positive about the experience.  
• Management and administrative systems generally seem to work well.
• The promotion of PaCE has been fairly low key.
• PaCE advisers work from a range of community settings.
• It seems that PaCE has wider effects upon participants and their families beyond enabling them to progress into work, education or training or to gain qualifications.

The next report in the series will explore the effects and the value for money of the programme.