Centre for Applied Childhood, Youth and Family Research

Welcome

The Centre for Applied Childhood, Youth and Family Research is an internationally renowned centre of excellence in child and family research. It is a dynamic space for innovation in thinking and practice, contributing to policy in response to current issues affecting children, youth and families. These include domestic violence, child abuse, child and family health problems, social exclusion of young people and the improvement of services and support for children and families.

The Centre comprises an interdisciplinary team of highly regarded academics from across the University drawn from areas including social work, health, social policy, sociology, political science, psychology and education. We have undertaken a wide range of research, evaluation and development projects, working with a variety of local, national and international partners. These have included the EU FP7 COPING project concerning the needs of children of imprisoned parents, UNICEF projects to inform National Action Plans on child sexual abuse, a European-wide evaluation of children’s participation for the European Commission and a portfolio of local and national evaluations. The centre also hosts a vibrant postgraduate research community including students from overseas.

We are committed to producing research that makes a difference, which means that our work is child focused, practice based, policy relevant and has real-world impact. We are concerned with generating new knowledge and insights into child, youth and family issues, as well as working with stakeholders to make better use of knowledge and learning to inform innovation and development. We seek to involve professionals, as well as children, youth and families as research partners using innovative, creative and participatory methodologies. Through our work we create opportunities for dialogue, learning and reflection between stakeholders and to build capacity for change in organisations, communities and public service systems.

Current research strengths are focused around six areas:

Abuse and interpersonal relationships
Child and family health and wellbeing
Child and family migration
Families and intergenerational relationships
Young people, participation and active citizenship
Evaluation, involvement and service improvement

The Centre has expertise in service evaluation and improvement projects working with local authorities, NHS trusts, community and voluntary sector organisations, schools and government policy initiatives.

We welcome opportunities for new partnerships and I hope you enjoy finding out more about our projects and publications. Please contact us if you would like to discuss opportunities for working with the Centre or require further information.

Professor Barry Percy-Smith [pictured top and right]
Director of the Centre for Applied Childhood, Youth and Family Research

We aim to increase knowledge that contributes to policy and practice for social equality and the wellbeing of children and families locally, nationally and internationally