This project was funded by the Department for Education's Innovation Programme and involved an evaluation of the design and implementation of a pilot Contextual Safeguarding system in the London Borough of Hackney.  Contextual safeguarding is an approach to understanding and addressing risks of significant hard outside the family context, and involves multi-agency work with multiple community partners.  

The project was led by Hackney Children and Families Service, working with an Academic Development Team at the University of Bedfordshire, led by Dr Carlene Firmin. The evaluation was conducted by an interdisciplinary research team led by Professor Michelle LeFevre in collaboration with Research in Practice.  The CRESS research team, including Dr Helen Drew and Professor Robin Banerjee, led on survey work to understand patterns in the wellbeing, self-perceptions, and school and community experiences of young people in schools in Hackney and a comparator local authority.

The final report was published by the Department for Education in 2020.