Children’s research charity Foundations has secured £85m in funding from the Department for Education (DfE)) to continue its work evaluating and supporting children and family support services.

The grant will see it continue for the next decade as the national ‘What Works Centre for Children in Families’ that sees it “generate and champion evidence” that bolsters support.

A priority of the charity is to fill evidence gaps in early intervention and children’s social care, with its findings regularly used to shape national policy.

Over the next ten years this will include supporting parenting, children impacted by domestic abuse, fostering and kinship care.

“I am delighted that we were successful in a competitive process to secure our role as the What Works Centre for Children and Families for the next decade, continuing our vital work to improve the lives of children and families across the country,” said the charity’s chief executive Jo Casebourne.

“We are extremely proud of what we have achieved so far and are looking forward to an exciting future working with the Department for Education and all our partners.”

The charity’s chair Sam White added: “It’s fantastic to see that the Department of Education has chosen to continue funding the evidence-building work Foundation does, along with its support to local authorities in implementing evidence-based interventions.

“The ten-year grant will increase certainty for Foundations in helping government deliver these evidence-based interventions.”

The charity’s work includes collecting case studies of more than 130 evidence-based interventions.

Foundations was created in 2022 from the merger of the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) and What Works for Children's Social Care.

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