Dr. Eavan Brady

Summary

This study was undertaken in partnership with advocates from Empowering People in Care (EPIC). The aim of the study was to learn more about the experiences of care leavers in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. By exploring how the pandemic was experienced by care leavers in Ireland we sought to shed light on the ways in which daily life may have changed for care leavers in this period, how they navigated those changes, and how they made sense of their experience.

Funding Agency

Department of Children and Youth Affarirs

Summary

This study aimed to provide a point-in-time capture of children and young people's experiences of Tusla"s child protection and welfare services. It sought to align with the Signs of Safety Theory of Change and produce actionable findings that provide a deep understanding of children and young people's experiences as well as the factors that influence those experiences.

Funding Agency

Child and Family Agency - Tusla

Summary

The study, Care Leavers " Ten Years On, will be the first in Ireland to address the experiences of `graduates" of the care system in adult life, in terms of education, family, work, accommodation, health and well-being. Study findings seek to answer such questions as how do young people who leave the care system fare as adults? What makes a difference in supporting care leavers? What is important from their point of view? Funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the study is part of Care Experiences: Journeys through the Irish Care System, a new national research and data project examining the lives of children in care and adults who were in care as children.

Funding Agency

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth

Summary

This study sought to pioneer a new line of inquiry in this area exploring the educational pathways that `older" care-experienced adults have taken over the course of their lives. In addition, this study drew on the life course perspective (Elder, 1994; 1998) as both guiding research paradigm and theoretical framework to explore if, and how, this perspective could provide new insights into how the educational pathways of care experienced adults have been shaped and influenced over time. To that end, the central research questions guiding this study were: 1) What are the educational pathways that care-experienced adults have taken over the course of their lives, and expect to take in future? 2) How can the life course perspective enhance understanding of the ways that educational pathways are shaped and influenced over time?