Dr Helen Hodges

Staff in the School of Social Sciences were devastated to learn about the death of our friend and colleague, Dr Helen Hodges in January 2026 at the age of 51.  Helen was a wonderful researcher in the field of quantitative children’s social care with an extensive understanding of data and how its analysis could be used to support some of the most marginalised young people in our society.

Helen was brought up in Formby in Merseyside and had extensive experience working across multiple sectors. This included work to promote her hometown Liverpool as a great place to work and visit, as well as work for a local authority children’s services department, the police and the Learning and Skills Council. This experience gave her an understanding of different sectors that shone through in her later research.

In her 40s she decided to return to academic work. She had an extraordinary commitment and enthusiasm for academic learning, and over her career obtained the enviable total of two bachelor's degrees and three Master’s degrees, as well as her PhD. Helen became passionate about research on youth justice during her time working with the police, and her PhD at Swansea University involved applying advanced statistics (Bayesian methods) to understand more about young people involved in the youth justice system.  She continued to work on this issue ever since and used her data analysis skills to answer important real-world questions about some of the most marginalised groups of young people in our society, particularly those involved with youth justice system and young people in care.

She had extensive expertise in linked administrative data research. Many colleagues turned to Helen for advice on this approach, not only because of her un-paralelled knowledge in this area but also because of her kind and supportive manner. She always had time to help and encourage her colleagues. More recently she had also taken a particular interest in neurodivergent inclusion, and supporting neurodivergent people in the research community.

Her knowledge and skills led her to remarkable success in seeking research funding, having secured three grants as principal investigator since 2020. She excelled at connecting with people and built her career working in multiple centres including the Wales Centre for Public Policy at Cardiff University and School of Policy Studies in Bristol. At the time of her death, she was working at both the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) at Cardiff University and Population Data Science at Swansea University. She was a Health and Care Research Wales Post Doctoral Fellow, and a member of the Welsh Crucible Cohort in 2024, a programme for future research leaders. Helen was also developing an international reputation and successfully applied to the Taith fund to travel to Adelaide in April 2025 to strengthen her international research collaborations.

Helen’s warm personality and enthusiasm for life meant that she built multiple strong friendships both inside and outside of work, particularly where she lived in Penarth. Helen had multiple interests. She was a talented dressmaker and knitter. In fact, she could turn her hand to anything creative - and a quilted block that she sewed was displayed at the Liberty Patchwork Collective Installation in 2025 as part of their 150-year celebration.  She loved music, every year attending the Leveller’s festival Beautiful Days and seeing The Wonder Stuff perform.  She also enjoyed swimming and regularly competed in Race for Life events to raise money for Cancer Research UK – a charity close to her heart.

Helen’s death is a massive loss to the children’s social care and youth justice research community and beyond.  She will be sorely missed by her colleagues both as a researcher and a friend.