SPRU is to undertake a major piece of research for the new Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children's and Young People's Services (C4EO).

C4EO will identify and coordinate local, regional and national evidence of 'what works', to create a single and comprehensive picture of effective practice in delivering children's services. Using this information, C4EO will offer support to local authorities and their Children's Trust partners, working with them to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families.

SPRU is a partner in the disability theme advisory group of C4EO and will lead a distinct piece of primary research, to be carried out between summer 2008 and spring 2011, on these two areas:

• the effectiveness and costs of early identification and intervention for sleep problems
• the effectiveness and costs of different modes of delivering behaviour management interventions to parents of disabled children.

Little is known about the effectiveness of many interventions used by or delivered to disabled children and their families. An exception to this is evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to manage sleep or behaviour problems. This indicates that such interventions can be effective in resolving or ameliorating difficulties, and that this can have positive benefits in other areas of the child's and family's life. Despite this, many families report that they are not receiving the help they need with sleep or behaviour problems.

Tricia Sloper, Research Director of the Children and Families Team in SPRU, said

"We are delighted to be involved in this innovative new centre which will support Children's Trusts and the wider sector to increase the effectiveness of the services they deliver".

C4EO is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The consortium delivering C4EO (www.C4EO.org.uk) is a voluntary partnership of four core partner organisations: National Children's Bureau (NCB - www.ncb.org.uk), the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER - www.nfer.ac.uk), Research in Practice (RiP - www.rip.org.uk) and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE - www.scie.org.uk). C4EO also has four strategic partners, who bring additional expertise and influence: the Family and Parenting Institute; the Improvement and Development Agency; the Institute of Education; and the National Youth Agency, plus a range of delivery partners who will provide specialist services.