After a long 7-year ‘leave of absence’ as Children’s Commissioner for Wales, I have recently returned to Cardiff University and the CASCADE Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre to resume academic life. Read More
Coproduction Workshops Family Voice
The Family Voice project has been busy arranging coproduction workshops both in Camden and in North Wales. My name is Delyth, and I am the Peer Researcher based in North Wales, supported by Y Bont. I have been inviting families from North Wales who have had experience of attending a Family Group Conference onto the… Read More
Lights Camera Action…Digitally Enabling Public Involvement Participants
Last month, our incredible team of Public Involvement Parents at CASCADE Parents Research Advisory Group were offered the opportunity to develop digital skills that could be used to support their involvement in the whole research cycle at CASCADE. We hope these skills might ultimately enable the group to contribute and disseminate their own research and experience. We also hope that these skills will be useful in developing their interests, careers, and confidence. Read More
A shared aim to make the world a better place
As part of Dr Nina Maxwell’s CASCADE research project, seven peer researchers from Peer Action Collective (PAC) based in Media Academy Cymru (MAC) were invited to ‘sbarc|spark’. The aim of the day was to learn more about their youth violence prevention research and explore ways to that we can work together. Read More
What’s Working in Children’s Social Care in Wales?
Too often the media and research focus on what is not working in children’s social care. We want to do something different – we want to find out and publicise what IS working. We hope you can help us. We want to hear from people in the sector about things that YOU think are working… Read More
Launching Complex Safeguarding Wales: a website for parents worried about child criminal exploitation
Complex Safeguarding Wales is a co-produced resource based on findings from the research project: County lines: a co-ordinated Welsh community response to child criminal exploitation and in collaboration with young people, parents and practitioners who have direct experience. Read More
Weeding out a few bad apples? What do we believe registration of residential childcare workers is for?
Residential care for children ‘looked after’ by the state is often characterised as the placement of ‘last resort’, despite it being a positive and appropriate placement choice for some young people. Across the UK, 16% of children looked after in England are living in residential settings, 10% in Scotland and 7% in Wales (Competition and Markets Authority, 2022). Historically, the children’s residential care workforce is undervalued and often seen as transient and low skilled (Department for Education, 2021), despite working with children who have often experienced significant trauma and challenges. Read More
CASCADE In-Practice Visiting Researcher at Cardiff University
The purpose of the in-practice visiting researcher position is to support a practitioner in their academic development and help them prepare for future funding applications – especially for pursuing a part-time or full-time PhD or other funded research… Read More
‘Together a Chance’ interim report presented at Parliamentary Eve
A pilot scheme being run by Pact to provide more support to mothers in prison is already yielding significant benefits, according to an interim evaluation report published today by Dr Alyson Rees, CASCADE… Read More
We speak the same language
The mental health and wellbeing of care-experienced children and young people is a major public concern. This has been further exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic and wider concerns about the diminished availability of mental health support services. A project led by DECIPHer’s Dr Rhiannon Evans in partnership with CASCADE and The Fostering Network Wales… Read More