What Works – Operation Paramount (Natural Experiment)
The Natural Experiment compared areas where Operation Paramount was implemented to those in which it was not active at the time. The output is a variety of descriptive, multi-methods analysis of children affected by parental imprisonment and the people who care for them between 2021 and 2024.
This multi-methods approach to research used the fact that implementation was limited to one county in Thames Valley to permit analysis as a qualitative natural experiment. Data relating to families recognised as part of Operation Paramount were examined to identify themes within the data that could improve provision of services.
Phone conversations with the remaining parent/carer then identified more information that was quantitatively analysed and allowed offers of support to be made to all families involved in the research. Their consent was requested to take part in telephone interviews where the family experience of parental incarceration was explored in more detail.
This multi-methods approach aimed to answer the following:
- What can we learn from Operation Paramount identification data about the families affected by parental incarceration?
- Are there differences between families who were eligible for Operation Paramount and those that were not, due to where the programme had been rolled out?
- Using interviews, what was the experience of families who have experienced parental incarceration, and was there any perceptible difference between families who were eligible for an Operation Paramount visit and those who had not been?