Communities that Care: Better outcomes for young people and the communities they live in - with Rico Catalano, Director of the Social Development Research Group.

In a time of unprecedented austerity, government is asking the public and voluntary sectors to do more with less. The government's Big Society initiative has also put a new emphasis on localism and partnership. But what can this mean in practice for those with the responsibility to deliver better outcomes for children and young people?

One answer is Communities that Care (CtC), one of the only well-articulated, manualised approaches to making community decisions about how to invest in children's well-being.

Engaging local people, including young people, local authorities and voluntary organisations is at the heart of the step-by-step CtC approach to introduce a tailor-made portfolio of evidence-based programmes proven to reduce the problem behaviours that are most damaging: youth crime and anti-social behaviour, substance abuse, school-age pregnancy and academic failure.

Professor Rico Catalano will be the keynote speaker at this half-day conference on Communities that Care jointly sponsored by the Social Research Unit and Catch22 (catch-22.org.uk). Dr. Catalano is Director of the Social Development Research Group in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington, Seattle. Catalano has been the co-developer of many evidence-based family- and school-based programmes and was co-principal investigator in a randomised controlled study of CtC in 24 communities across 7 American states.

This half-day conference will be of particular interest to local and national policy makers, the community and voluntary sector, and practitioners and academics interested in all aspects of evidence-based practice.

*Light refreshments and sandwiches will be served.

London's Living Room is at the top of City Hall. 

Directions: http://www.london.gov.uk/city-hall/visitor-information/location-map

This event is jointly hosted by The Social Research Unit and Catch22