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Dr. Louise Caffrey

Assistant Professor in Social Policy (Social Studies)
      
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Dr. Louise Caffrey

Assistant Professor in Social Policy (Social Studies)

 LOUISE.CAFFREY@tcd.ie

 


Louise is an Assistant Professor in Social Policy in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin. She holds a PhD in Social Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she was awarded an LSE PhD Scholarship to undertake her research. Louise also holds a Full Post-Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching (PGCHE) from the LSE, an MSc in Applied Social Research from Trinity College Dublin and a BA (International) in Political Science and History from University College Dublin (UCD). Immediately prior to joining Trinity College Louise worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Division of Health and Social Care, King's College London, and prior to entering academia she worked as a research consultant, delivering numerous reports for government and NGO clients in Ireland and the UK. Louise is Director of the MSc Applied Social Research. She teaches across the MSc Applied Social Research, BA Social Policy, BA Social Studies, PGDip Social Policy and Practice and PGDip Child Protection and Welfare. Louise welcomes PhD applications in the following areas: policy or practice implementation, inter-professional working, audit/inspection of services in the area of child protection and welfare or health systems. I have a particular interest in studies adopting complexity theory, a systems approach or realist evaluation/synthesis. Children's experiences/voices in child protection and welfare services; child contact, Signs of Safety.
Project Title
 A documentary analysis of Child Protection and Welfare HIQA inspection reports in Ireland
From
2024
To
2025
Summary
Funding Agency
Department of Children Equality Disability Integration and Youth
Project Title
 A rapid review of the international evidence on the focus and effects of inspection of child and family services
From
2023
To
2024
Summary
Funding Agency
Department of Children Equality Disability Integration and Youth
Project Title
 Realist Synthesis of Signs of Safety
From
2019
To
2020
Summary
Signs of Safety is a complex, integrated framework for doing children's services work. It has been implemented in more than 100 jurisdictions worldwide and in 2017 was introduced in Ireland as the national child protection framework. Realist Synthesis complements more established approaches to systematic review, which have been developed and used mainly for simpler interventions like clinical treatments or therapies. Using pre-existing literature, the study aims to provide an explanatory analysis of how and why Signs of Safety might work (or not) in particular contexts or settings. To do so it will use a broad array of literature and wider evidence to identify and test Signs of Safety's underlying causal mechanisms and to explore how those mechanisms might operate under varying conditions. louis is PI on this study.
Funding Agency
Resolutions Consultancy
Project Type
Research
Project Title
 Knowledge for Use (K4U)
From
2015
To
2021
Summary
Knowledge for Use (K4U) is an innovative, interdisciplinary and multi-institutional ERC-funded research project that aims to show how to put scientific research and common knowledge together to build more decent societies. It is an international collaborative project led by Prof. Nancy Cartwright in Durham University. Louise is contributing to the child welfare case study on Signs of Safety
Funding Agency
ERC Horizon 2020
Project Title
 An exploration of children and young people's experiences of child protection and welfare services in Tusla Child and Family Agency
From
2022
To
2023
Summary
A qualitive study exploring children's experiences of the child protection and welfare services in Ireland. It is a collaboration in the School of Social Work & Social Policy, led by Prof. Stephanie Holt.
Funding Agency
Tusla Child & Family Agency

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Details Date
Louise is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Authority. Further information at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/individuals/fellowship Since 2013
Louise is an Associate on the K4U Horizon 2020 Study, led by Prof. Nancy Cartwright at Durham University. K4U's aim is to construct a radically new picture of how to use social science to build better policies. Further information: https://www.dur.ac.uk/k4u/ . March 2016 to present
UNICEF Reference Group for Review of Child Protection Systems in Four Countries in South Asia. I am providing guidance to the project on the use of a systems approach. February 2017 to November 2017
Flynn, S.,Caffrey, L.,Antosik-Parsons, K.,Whiting, S., Byrne, J. and Conlon, C., New-Materialist Bricolage: Presenting an Ontological Position for Qualitative Internet-Based Research, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 28, (2), 2025, p179 - 192, Notes: [DOI: 10.1080/13645579.2024.2329430], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  URL
Clercq, L. D., Meulewaeter, F., Rowaert, S., Decoene, S., Caffrey, L., Caslor, M., Vandevelde, S., & Vanderplasschen, W., Families" perspectives on the impact of signs of safety in child protection services through the lens of self-determination theory, Children and Youth Services Review, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Flynn, S.,Lakkshme Sundaresan, S., and Caffrey, L., Outcomes Measurement in Social Care: Insights from Current Evidence, Journal of Social Care, 4, 2024, pArticle 2-, Notes: [https://arrow.tudublin.ie/jsoc/vol4/iss1/2], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text
Caffrey, L., Brady, E., Keegan, O., Dunne, S., Sheaf, G., Holt, S., & Gilligan, R., Children's Experiences of Signs of Safety: A Scoping Review, Children and Youth Services Review, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Flynn, S., Lakkshme Sundaresan, S., Caffrey, L., Putting Outcomes into Practice: The Implementation of a Framework of Outcome Measures within a Child and Family Service, The British Journal of Social Work, 2024, p1 - 18, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Flynn, S., Lakkshme Sundaresan, S., Caffrey, L.,Spratt, T. and Holt, S., Towards Better Outcomes for Children and Families: Evaluation of the Implementation of an Outcomes Framework, 2024, p1 - 64, https://doi.org/10.25546/11021, Report, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Gregory, S., Caffrey, L., Daly, D., "It could not have been more different." Comparing experiences of hospital-based birth and homebirth in Ireland: A mixed-methods survey, Women and Birth, 2023, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Caffrey, L, Browne, F. , The Challenge of Implementation in Complex, Adaptive Child Welfare Systems: A Realist Synthesis of Signs of Safety, Children and Youth Services Review, 2023, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Stephanie Holt, Robbie Gilligan, Louise Caffrey & Eavan Brady, Through the Eyes of the Child: A Study of Tusla Child Protection and Welfare Intervention, 2023, Report, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Caffrey, Louise, Browne, Freda , Understanding the social worker-family relationship through Self Determination Theory: A Realist Synthesis of Signs of Safety, Child & Family Social Work, 27, 2022, p513 - 525, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
  

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Stephanie Holt, Robbie Gilligan, Louise Caffrey & Eavan Brady, Through the Eyes of the Child: A Study of Tusla Child Protection and Welfare Intervention - A Research Briefing, Children and Youth Services Review, 2023, -, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Conlon, C., Antosik-Parsons, K., Flynn, S., Caffrey, L., Byrne, J. and Whiting, S., Lessons from Pivoting to Online Interviewing: Ethical and Technical Considerations for Qualitative Researchers following the COVID-19 Pandemic, Social Sciences Research Network, 2023, Report, PUBLISHED

  


Award Date
LSE PhD Scholarship 2010-2014
UCD Entrance Scholarship 2002
Much of Louise's recent research stems from a core interest in the challenges of implementing public policy in organisations. Her research has sought to better understand, firstly why implementing policy is so challenging and, secondly, how we can better evaluate public policy initiatives and programmes so that evaluation findings are more useful for policy makers. Louise specialises in understanding public sector organisations as Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) and using Systems and Realist Evaluation & Synthesis approaches. Her research has studied policy implementation in both child protection and health systems and explores overarching themes of system safety, inter-professional working and intended and unintended effects of performance management and measurement. She studies the implementation of specific programmes and initiatives including, Signs of Safety (a framework for child protection social work practice) and Athena SWAN (a gender equity initiative) and policy goals, including the creation of Health Research Systems, safety and child engagement in child contact centres and welfare-to-work policy for lone parents. Louise welcomes applications from PhD students in the following areas: Signs of Safety, Athena SWAN & other gender equity programmes, Policy implementation and system safety in child protection and health systems, Systems approaches to policy implementation, Realist evaluation and Realist Synthesis approaches, Use of Complexity Theory to understanding policy implementation or evaluation Current PhD student: Claire O'Reilly. Working title: Disability Inclusive, Humanitarian Food Programming: What works, for whom, and in what contexts? (Realist Evaluation). Co-supervised with Dr. Caroline Jagoe, Department of Clinical Speech and Language Studies