Barbara Rayment told CYP Now that her members, who provide counsellingand advice services, are under more pressure than ever to provideevidence that their services are effective.
In the past, qualitative evidence was deemed as being adequate proof ofa service's value.
But now that local authorities are increasingly commissioning jointlywith health partners, services that are backed up by more scientificresearch are being favoured.
This means techniques such as cognitive behaviour therapy are beingcommissioned because they have a strong evidence base and have beensubject to randomised controlled trials.Also, now resources are tighter,there is greater emphasis on commissioning evidence-based services.
Rayment said: "We need to have greater clarity about what counts asevidence. Voluntary sector youth counselling services cannot necessarilyfund evaluations of their work."
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