Background
Yvette Hartfree joined CRSP as a Research Associate in 2000.
Yvette is a highly experienced qualitative researcher, who has particular expertise, not only in conducting research amongst vulnerable groups, but also with professionals.
Yvette has worked on a variety of projects, both qualitative and quantitative. Many of these projects have been conducted for Government departments, including the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education and Skills. Yvette is an experienced project leader and has been responsible for the design of research studies, conducting fieldwork, data analysis, reporting and presenting research findings to policy customers. She is also experienced in liaising with partner organisations and research funders to ensure that research deadlines are met and that research objectives are achieved.
Current and recent projects
Sustainable Income Standards – towards a greener minimum?
Funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, this project explores whether ‘greener’ forms of consumption are seen as compatible with maintaining a minimum acceptable standard of living, using MIS as a baseline of consumption. Yvette led Phase 2 of the research which explored the issue with members of the public in four focus groups.
Publication
Druckman, A., Hartfree, Y., Hirsch, D. and Perren, K. (2011) Sustainable Income Standards: towards a greener minimum? York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Evaluation of DWP Financial Inclusion Champions Initiative
CRSP was commissioned an evaluation of the Department for Work and Pension’s Financial Inclusion Champions Initiative. The aim was to establish the effectiveness of the Financial Inclusion Champions Initiative looking at both the impact and processes of the Initiative.
Sponsor: HM Treasury
Publication
Signoretta, P., Smith, N., Holmes, L., Beckhelling, J., Hartfree, Y., Hill, K., Manful, E., Padley, M., Perren, K. and Waring, A. (2011) Evaluation of DWP Financial Inclusion Champions Initiative: Final Report and Appendices. London: HM Treasury.
LHA National Roll Out – Tenants and Advisors Early Experiences of the Local Housing Allowance and Money Management
Yvette was project leader for the Department for Work and Pensions funded study to explore (qualitatively) tenants’ and advisors’ early experiences of the LHA national roll out, with a particular focus on issues arising from the direct payment of LHA to tenants and how tenants manage their LHA money. This research formed part of a wider two year review to monitor the impact of LHA at a national level.
Publication:
Hartfree, Y., Whitfield, G., Waring, A., Sandu, A. and Hill, K. (2010) Tenants’ and advisers’ early experiences of the Local Housing Allowance national rollout. Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Research Report No. 688. Norwich: HMSO.
Submission to the Work and Pensions Committee:
Inquiry into the Impact of the changes to Housing Benefit announced in the June 2010 Budget
Evaluation of the Older Workers Face-to-Face Guidance Pilot
The Government’s Green Paper: A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering people to work
included a commitment to increasing employment among people aged 50 and over. As part of the process, the DWP funded a pilot study whereby independent advisors offer guidance to people of older working age about a range of issues related to work and retirement. CRSP was contracted to evaluate this pilot. The study established what information older working people need, and how they an access it, in order to make an informed decision about work and retirement in later life. The evaluation started in December 2007 and completed in March 2010.
Sponsor: Department for Work and Pensions
Publication
Perren, K., Harvey, J., Hill, K., Hartfree, Y. and Padley, M. (2011) Evaluation of the 50+ Face-to-Face Guidance Pilot. Research Report No. 720. London: Department for Work and Pensions.
Disadvantage and Road User Safety
It is well established that more people are injured on the road in disadvantaged areas than in other areas. For example, in order to meet its target of halving the number of children killed or injured in road accidents, the Government is prioritising a focus on reducing accidents in disadvantaged areas and among children from different social and ethnic groups. What is less clear is why such risks are more pronounced for disadvantaged groups. The Department for Transport commissioned CRSP, in partnership with Aecom, to undertake a major study to investigate this and so inform strategies to improve road user safety. The findings of this research were published in February 2011.
Relevant publication
Sutton, L., Lowe, C., Hartfree, Y. and Dearden, C. (2011) Appendix 3: Case Study Report in Lowe, C., Whitfield, G., Sutton, L. and Hardin, J. (2011) Road User Safety and Disadvantage. Road Safety Research Report No. 123. London: Department for Transport.
Ex-Prisoners Study: An Exploratory Investigation into Links Between the Criminal Justice System, Jobcentre Services and the Labour Market
This project ran from February 2005 -
February 2008 and was an exploratory study of ex-prisoners. This group
is particularly disadvantaged in the labour market, experiencing
high levels of unemployment, low grade or no qualifications, poor
health, especially in relation to substance misuse, personal barriers
such as low self-esteem and confidence, and gaps in support and
services. There were four strands to the work: qualitative interviews
with key staff from employment services; qualitative research
with a cohort of ex-prisoners with three waves of interviews,
the first one being prior to release from prison; focus group
discussions with ex-offenders;
and a synthesis report to draw together the findings from the
various strands of the work. The final research report has been completed and is expected to be published by the sponsor, the Department for Work and Pensions in July 2008.
Related Publications
Hartfree, Y., Dearden, C. and Pound, E., (2008) High Hopes: supporting ex-prisoners in their lives after prison, Department for Work and Pensions Research Report 509.
Hartfree, Y., Dearden, C. and Pound, E. (2010) 'Plugging the Prisoner Finance Gap: A Critical Analysis of Financial Support for Newly-Released Prisoners', The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 31-44.
The Social
Fund - Current role and future direction: the qualitative
element of this project used focus groups to explore the extent
to which the Social Fund reduces poverty and social exclusion
with the aim of producing policy recommendations for reform of
the Social Fund.
Evaluation of
Local Housing Allowance Pathfinders: a collaborative project
with the Universities
of Birmingham and York
to explore the impact of Local
Housing Allowance (which has replaced Housing Benefit in nine
Pathfinder areas) on key stakeholders, including landlords, claimants,
and HB administrators.
Qualitative
Evaluation of Jobcentre Plus: Jobcentre Plus is a key part
of the Government's strategy for welfare reform. Following the
launch of the first Pathfinder offices CRSP, in partnership with
Ecotec Research
and Consulting Ltd, conducted three waves of interviews with
both staff and customers to assess the extent to which Pathfinder
offices were delivering and moving closer towards the intended
policy vision.
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