Building better social care in Wales
Doing Adult Safeguarding with Service Users and Carers Presented by: Dr Jeremy Dixon, University of Bath *A discount code will be provided to attendees for those who wish to purchase Jeremy’s book, Adult Safeguarding Observed* This presentation describes social workers’ accounts of doing adult safeguarding work with service users, family carers and paid carers. It… Read More
Championing a research culture within Adult Social Care – How are we making robust decisions without calling upon the research base? Research enriched practice has always been a gold standard within social care. However, making it a natural part of practice within busy frontline local authority teams dealing with complex and fluid situations has always… Read More
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The ASPIRE Project (Actioning a Schools & Prisons Independent Research Evaluation) In July 2023, the Welsh Government commissioned the ASPIRE Team for a 12-month period to provide options and considerations for a national model of support to improve wellbeing and educational outcomes for children affected by parental imprisonment in Wales. The ASPIRE team is a collaboration led by Families Outside (a national Scottish charity that supports families affected by imprisonment) and supported by two academics, two independent consultants specialising in policy and practice related to children affected by imprisonment, and two research assistants. The study involved five phases of data collection, and included interviews with children, interviews with mothers, observation of the School Zone operating in HMP Parc and HMP Cardiff, and focus groups with fathers in prison. The study also involved a roundtable, stakeholder event held at Cardiff University. This webinar will present the key findings from the study and the recommendations for a pan Wales model of support for children and young people in Wales who have a parent in prison.
Online, ZOOM
12:00
- 24/09/2024
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The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot, launched in July 2022, is unique in several ways. No other basic income scheme has given regular payments as large as those received by young people involved in the pilot, nor have other basic income schemes been open to a national cohort of care leavers from the age of 18 for two years of payments. The pilot is being evaluated by a team led by researchers at CASCADE, Cardiff University and the evaluation is now in its second year. This session is based on the first annual report from the study, which includes early findings. We will describe the group of young people receiving the basic income, present a picture of how the scheme is intended to work, and discuss perceptions and experiences of professionals involved with the scheme. Presenter: David Westlake, Co-Investigator, CASCADE at Cardiff University.
Online, ZOOM
13:00
- 11/09/2024
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This presentation will include findings from ‘Wellbeing in Schools and Colleges (WiSC)’, an empirical research study in Wales, where the objective was to understand stakeholder experiences of delivering and receiving mental health and wellbeing provision for care-experienced children and young people (CYP) in secondary schools and FE Colleges, in order to develop recommendations to enhance service quality and ensure equitable access. In particular, it explored the relationships between social workers, school and college staff, mental health professionals, and care-experienced CYP and how they impacted on delivery and receipt of wellbeing provision. The focus of the presentation will be on the qualitative findings from this mixed methods study including case studies with secondary schools, FE colleges, social care teams, and mental health teams. Firstly, study themes relating to care-experienced CYP’s mental health and wellbeing needs and how schools and colleges try to meet these needs will be explored. Then themes relating to the role of cross-professional boundary working between social care and education staff will be discussed, including the challenges and opportunities of working in this way and how they differ according to age and care experience, e.g. foster care and kinship care. The presentation will conclude with recommendations for practice and policy in relation to care-experienced CYP’s mental health and wellbeing in educational settings and as they transition between them.
Online, ZOOM
13:00
- 18/09/2024
In 2024, CASCADE proudly celebrates a decade of transformative impact on children’s social care. Our ten-year journey has been marked by groundbreaking studies and significant contributions to policy and practice in children’s social care. Over these years, CASCADE has delved…
ExChange Wales brings leading researchers together with practitioners and service users to share expertise, research evidence and care experiences.
Through our conferences, workshops, lectures and seminars, ExChange provides free, high-quality training to support the ongoing development of social care professionals across Wales. Attracting leading national speakers, together we learn and advise on research, impacting both policy and practice. Our events and resources enrich skills while foregrounding the lived experience of care-experienced people.
We have a range of ways that you can work with ExChange. If you wish to host an ExChange workshop, webinar, podcast or blog, simply contact us.
Our third webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health “Supporting people with mental health problems to build social networks and reduce loneliness: lessons for practice and research from intervention trials” Abstract People with mental health problems are more likely to have smaller networks and experience loneliness and social isolation than… Read More
Our fourth webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health Abstract The ability to form strong relationships is viewed as central to mental health recovery. Few studies have explored the experiences of people with mental health problems in forming or maintaining romantic relationships. This study addressed this gap through conducting focus… Read More
Our second webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health “Webinar: What works to improve the mental health of care-experienced children and young people: Systematic review evidence” Abstract The mental health and wellbeing of care-experienced children and young people remains a major concern. To date, it has not been clear which… Read More
Our first Webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health Abstract In this presentation, offered as a basis for discussion, Peter, drawing on his own and other people’s lived experience, aims to help us rethink both understandings of mental wellbeing and distress and helpful ways of addressing the difficulties we may… Read More
Last year, a group of hosts in and around Cardiff, some from CASCADE, worked together to provide Christmas dinner and a celebration for care-experienced people. The team were filled with nerves ahead of the big day, with referrals still coming in up to the week before Christmas. A chef volunteered three days of their time… Read More
** WALES ONLY** Parent Advocacy Online Workshop (Wales) We are inviting social work practitioners and managers, parental advocates, parents, advocacy managers, family support workers and academics in Wales to participate in an online workshop on parental advocacy and its effectiveness in supporting parents whose children are open to social care. The event is part of… Read More
Understanding care pathways and placement stability for infants in Wales with Dr Laura Cowley from Population Data Science, Swansea University on 4 October 12:30-14:00. This presentation provides new empirical evidence about entry routes to care, pathways through care, and placement outcomes for the very youngest children in the care system in Wales. By addressing questions about… Read More
