Learning the lesson of working together: using pathways to prevention as a case study for evaluating institutional change
Kate Freiberg, Sara Branch and Ross Homel
Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance, Griffith University
Contact Email:   s.branchgriffith.edu.au

Children’s development is a complex process that is influenced by a range of contexts and systems (e.g., families, schools, religious groups, ethnic communities). Positive development is more likely when these systems work together. This capacity to work across contexts and set up integrated systems of support for development is particularly important for children who experience family adversity and various forms of social and economic disadvantage that are known risk factors for development. If key players in children’s lives do not jointly encompass all critical developmental domains through the skills, resources and opportunities they bring, children’s wellbeing may suffer. This paper discusses institutional culture change as one key element of this challenge, using as a vehicle a new initiative within the Pathways Project called 'Circles of Care' This initiative is designed to surround all primary school children with a small group of caring adults who help set learning goals, facilitate support for the child and its family, and resolve difficulties in the school context as they arise. Evaluation involves a systematic examination of institutional cultural change in two partner organisations that are central players in the Pathways Project; and will be implemented in three phases. This paper introduces the approach taken by the program team to identify and map institutional culture change over a three-year period.

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