Two researchers from the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) at Cardiff University have been awarded personal funding through the Health and Care Research Wales Faculty’s Advancing Researcher Scheme.

Dr Harriet Lloyd and Dr Lorna Stabler are among researchers from across Wales selected in the latest round of awards, all of which begin on 1 April 2026.

Through the scheme, award holders receive funding alongside access to tailored support, mentoring, training and networking opportunities as members of the Health and Care Research Wales Faculty — supporting the next phase of their research careers.

Strengthening evidence on residential family assessment centres

Harriet’s award will support research into residential family assessment centres (mother and baby units), where decisions are made about whether children can safely remain with their parents.

These placements can offer intensive support at a critical time and significantly influence outcomes for families. However, they are also high-cost and have expanded rapidly across the UK, raising questions about access, quality and longer-term impact.

Through this award, Harriet will:

  • explore the perspectives of parents, practitioners and advocates
  • examine who is referred and why, including care-experienced parents
  • assess the feasibility of tracking outcomes for families after leaving centres

“I’m so delighted to have been granted funding. This award will allow me to explore the perspectives and priorities of key stakeholders, understand referral patterns, and examine the feasibility of tracing outcomes for families who have left family assessment centres.”

Connecting kinship care research with families’ lived experience and priorities 

Lorna’s award will support research focusing on kinship care, where children who can’t live with their parents are cared for by someone else in their network – rather than entering foster or residential care with strangers. Lorna is already a leading researcher in this area, and will use this award to:

  • Share research to date with kinship families, communities and practitioners
  • Work with kinship carers and care experienced young people to develop future research priorities
  • Co-develop a pan-European network of kinship care researchers and a comparative study across nations. 

“People with lived experience should be at the heart of all research that we do. This award will give me the opportunity to take the time needed to build relationships and communities of those who experience kinship care to set the future research agenda.”

The Advancing Researcher Scheme supports researchers to strengthen their research skills and leadership, helping to build research capacity and impact across Wales.