The DATIS Difference: Trauma-Informed Practice to Edge-of-Care Families
Act for Change
Act for Change is a small South East London charity with a reach well beyond its size. Founded in 2007, we support children, young people and families facing trauma, abuse and systemic disadvantage across the London Boroughs of Bexley and Waltham Forest and, increasingly, through a national network of practitioners we train.
Our work is built on DATIS (Developmental, Awareness, Trauma-Informed, Systemic), a methodology developed over 18 years of frontline practice. AFC is one of a small number of charities holding statutory-threshold work at the edge-of-care, Child Protection, Child in Need, Reducing Parental Conflict, alongside trauma-informed therapeutic support. That combination keeps DATIS anchored in live frontline evidence rather than theory.
The results bear it out. In 2024–25, 90% of participants reported improved emotional wellbeing and 75% a reduction in family conflict, with 85%+ satisfaction across all programmes, a 100% contract delivery rate and zero safeguarding incidents. Our validated 14:1 cost-avoidance ratio — calculated using Pro Bono Economics methodology against avoided care proceedings, residential placements and CAMHS referrals, represents direct savings to the public purse. We have now documented outcomes for 1,500 cases since founding.
This year we expanded into Waltham Forest, advanced our Connecting Families programme with the Department for Work and Pensions and deepened partnerships with Oxleas NHS Trust and South East London Integrated Care Board.
Our TIP Training programme, in accreditation with CPCAB, equips school staff, youth workers and social workers to deliver DATIS themselves. From 2026, the AFC Early Help Network will extend that practice further, so families get the right response early, whoever is in front of them.
Our work is built on DATIS (Developmental, Awareness, Trauma-Informed, Systemic), a methodology developed over 18 years of frontline practice. AFC is one of a small number of charities holding statutory-threshold work at the edge-of-care, Child Protection, Child in Need, Reducing Parental Conflict, alongside trauma-informed therapeutic support. That combination keeps DATIS anchored in live frontline evidence rather than theory.
The results bear it out. In 2024–25, 90% of participants reported improved emotional wellbeing and 75% a reduction in family conflict, with 85%+ satisfaction across all programmes, a 100% contract delivery rate and zero safeguarding incidents. Our validated 14:1 cost-avoidance ratio — calculated using Pro Bono Economics methodology against avoided care proceedings, residential placements and CAMHS referrals, represents direct savings to the public purse. We have now documented outcomes for 1,500 cases since founding.
This year we expanded into Waltham Forest, advanced our Connecting Families programme with the Department for Work and Pensions and deepened partnerships with Oxleas NHS Trust and South East London Integrated Care Board.
Our TIP Training programme, in accreditation with CPCAB, equips school staff, youth workers and social workers to deliver DATIS themselves. From 2026, the AFC Early Help Network will extend that practice further, so families get the right response early, whoever is in front of them.