CASCADE’s Current research projects:
A mixed-methods evaluation of parental advocacy in Wales
Parental Advocacy in Wales: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of its Effectiveness in Supporting Parents Wales currently has the highest proportion of children in care among UK nations, and it is a policy priority of the Welsh…
Action for Children’s Serious Organised Crime Early Intervention Service (SOCEIS) Evaluation
The aim of this evaluation is to examine the implementation, delivery and impact of the Serious Organised Crime Early Intervention Service, a pioneering programme aimed at diverting young people away from a life of serious…
An Evaluation of Fostering Well-being
An evaluation of a series of multi-disciplinary masterclasses delivered to professionals in the team around the child. In addition the programme includes the development of the role of the foster care pioneer. Overview We are…
CLASS Cymru: Developing an online resource to support care experienced students
CASCADE are working with CLASS Cymru and The Rees Foundation to develop a website that will help care experienced people and those who work with them to find all the information they need about university. Overview Care…
County lines: a co-ordinated Welsh community response to child criminal exploitation
Funded by Health Care Research Wales, This 18-month exploratory research project is aimed at creating a toolkit for an effective service response to improve the outcomes for children at risk or involved in county lines.…
Enhancing Understandings of Risky Behaviours
A Linking survey and administrative data to enhance understandings of risky behaviours and potential protective factors in children receiving social care: A feasibility study. This project will provide a more nuanced and intersectional understanding of young people’s…
Evaluation of ‘Together a Chance’
The aim of the project is to reduce the number of children being taken into care when a mother goes to prison Overview An evaluation of having a social worker based in two women’s prisons…
Evaluation of National Youth Advocacy Service Cymru parental advocacy project
The National Youth Advocacy Service Cymru (NYAS) has been working with Caerphilly since April 2017 to provide advocates for parents. In 2020 NYAS was awarded funding by the Welsh Government to provide advocacy services across…
Evaluation of People Offering Parents Support (POPS)
Overview People Offering parents Support (POPS). This project is an evaluation of a peer mentoring project, supporting parents with drug and alcohol difficulties, who are accessing social work services. The evaluation will commence in October…
Evaluation of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court in Wales pilot
This two-year evaluation of the first Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) in Wales aims to support the delivery and development of FDAC in Wales, and enable a rigorous large-scale evaluation in future. Overview The…
Falling Between the Gaps PhD studentship
PhD Overview A PhD study being undertaken by Bridget Handley of young care experienced people’s experiences of navigating mental health services. The study aims to explore the gaps in service provision, multi-agency working, assess what…
Family VOICE: Family Group Conferencing for Children and Families
Family group conferencing for children and families: Evaluation of implementation, context and effectiveness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXR4yXlyUzA Survey The family group conferencing for children and families (Family VOICE) study is exploring the quality and effectiveness of family group conferences (FGCs). As…
For young people from young people
This project builds on the findings of an earlier project to co-design and build a resource hub offering information and links to mental health and well-being services for care-experienced young people across Wales. https://youtu.be/33_59ZeP1Xw Overview…
Household risk factors and children’s entry into care
Children in households with substance misuse, domestic violence or mental health problems: Who is at risk of entering care? A study looking at the relationship between household risk factors, particularly substance misuse, domestic violence and…
How can we improve the experiences and outcomes of autistic children in care? A mixed methods study of needs, services, and good practice
How can we help autistic children and those with high levels of autistic traits who are in care get the help they need to achieve the best outcomes? This Fellowship will investigate this by looking…
Leaving a pupil referral unit: Exploring the transitions and post-16 destinations of care experienced young people
It is widely known that many care experienced young people find education to be difficult and experience some form of school exclusion. What is less well understood is what happens next for these young people at the age of 16. …
Looked after children in the youth justice system A mixed methods feasibility study
Children looked after who have come into contact with the law are some of the most vulnerable members of society. The over-representation of care experienced young people and those from racially and ethnically minoritized groups…
Making sense of the SWIS Trial: Implications for Wales
This project will introduce the findings of the Social Workers in Schools (SWIS) Trial, to Welsh stakeholders with a view to developing SWIS for implementation in Wales. Overview The Social Workers in Schools (SWIS) Trial…
Next steps for the Caring Lives study of the young carer spectrum
One-year fellowship to disseminate and increase the impacts of a PhD study, Caring Lives, that investigated how the impacts of caring vary for children depending on their caring and family circumstances. Overview Caring Lives was…
Post-18 support for young people leaving care
How are young people in care supported to remain in their home once they turn 18? Overview An international review of post-18 care provision for young people leaving state care and will specifically focus on…
Selfies, Snapchat and Keeping Safe: How do looked after children engage online?
Understanding how looked after children engage online and experience social and digital forms of media. Overview The overall aim is to understand how looked after children engage online and experience social and digital forms of…
Snakes and Ladders: Developing a training tool for use in the youth justice system
The aim of this 15-month project is to develop a prototype of a training tool which represents a young person’s journey through the youth justice system including the various challenges that they may face. Overview Understanding…
Social care research capacity building programme
The capacity to undertake academic research on both adult and children’s social care is under-developed and fragile both here in Wales and across the UK. The aims of the programme are both: to encourage people…
Social work fast track programmes: tracking retention and progression
What happens to the graduates of fast-track child and family social work programmes in the world of practice – do they stay? what are their working conditions? do they get promoted? Overview This research project…
Supporting Parents in and Leaving Care: #MessagestoCorporateParents
Supporting care-experienced parents Overview This project aims to challenge stigma, discrimination and poor outcomes for young parents in and leaving care. The project will work closely with young people and other key stakeholders to consider and…
The perceived impact of peer parental advocacy impact on child protection practice: A pilot evaluation
Peer Parental Advocacy aims to support parents who are engaged with the child protection process, through advice and advocacy. Part of this is helping them play a meaningful role in decision making about their children.…
The SWIS Trial: An evaluation of school based social work
Following on from three pilot studies which showed evidence of promise, the SWIS trial will evaluate the programme on a larger scale to establish the impact it has on some important social care and educational…
The Welsh Basic Income Evaluation
The Welsh Government Commissioned four-year evaluation of the basic income pilot scheme will assess outcomes for young adults receiving the income, the scheme’s costs and benefits, and how it works out in practice for those…
Understanding the higher education experiences of care-experienced young people in Wales
Aiming to understand Higher Education Institutions’ interventions in Wales that target care-experienced young people and assess the success or otherwise of these interventions in order to develop a model of best practice Overview Care-experienced young…
Understanding the implementation of children’s social care policy in Wales
A study of the implementation of the new Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) guidance in Wales Overview The central purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of how the new Welsh Government Child Sexual…
Wellbeing in Schools and Colleges – the WiSC Study
The aim of this study is to understand stakeholder experiences of delivering and receiving mental health and wellbeing provision for care-experienced children and young people (aged 11-25) in secondary schools in Wales and in the…