Lorna Stabler
Research Associate, CASCADE
- stablerl@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2251 0937
- 12 Museum Place, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3BG
Overview
I am currently working within CASCADE as a Research Associate. I am Principal Investigator for a Barnardo's funded evaluation of a service in Monmouthshire aimed at supporting families. I began my work with CASCADE on a programme of work for the What Work's Centre for Children's Social Care. I previously worked for the Tilda Goldberg Centre for Social Work and Social Care as an embedded researcher within an inner London Local Authority. I began my research career at Cambridge University's exam board, and much of my experience to date has involved conceptualisation, measurement and development of complex skills and interventions within education and social work.
I am particularly motivated by a drive to understand what can make a difference for families and young people involved in children's social care, and links between what social worker do and wider family outcomes. With that aim in mind, I am currently working on a range of realist reviews exploring what works well, for whom, under what circumstances in reducing the need for children to be in care. I have recently been awarded funding under the Cardiff University Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP) to carry out a review on respite care to reduce the need for children to enter out of home care.
I engage widely with the academic community. To this end, I have recently been appointed as a lay member of the Health and Social Care Wales Research Ethics Committee.
Biography
- Ongoing - June 2018, Research Associate, CASCADE
- November 2016 - June 2018, Research Assistant, Tilda Goldberg Centre
- September 2015 - November 2016, Research Assistant, Cambridge Internation Examinations
Honours and awards
Winston Churchill Memorial Fellow (2019).
Professional memberships
Member of European Social Work Research Association
Speaking engagements
- Reducing the number of children in care: What interventions are evaluated internationally, do they work, how, for whom, and under which circumstances? Findings from a systematic scoping review. ECSWC, Leuven (2019)
- Learning from experience: reflecting on the realities of coproduction with care experienced young people. JSWEC, Canterbury (2018).
- What does ‘what works’ mean in children’s social care? JSWEC, Canterbury (2018)
- What does ‘what works’ mean in children’s social care? Greenwich University (2018)
- On the grid: exploring children's perspectives of social worker skills using Q-method to understand subjective viewpoint. BASPCAN, Coventry (2018)
- Drawing on lived experience can shape research and practice. Keynote at BASPCAN, Coventry (2018)
Committees and reviewing
- Journal reviewer, Qualitative Social Work
- Journal reviewer, Social Work Education
- Project reviewer, NSPCC
Publications
2022
- Mannay, D. et al. 2022. The strengths and challenges of online services and interventions to support the mental health and wellbeing of care-experienced children and young people: A study exploring the views of young people, carers, and social care professionals in Wales during the Coronavirus pandemic. Project Report. Cardiff: The Fostering Network in Wales.
2021
- Stabler, L. et al. 2021. A rapid realist review of effective mental health interventions for individuals with chronic physical health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic using a systems-level mental health promotion framework. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(23), article number: 12292. (10.3390/ijerph182312292)
- Stabler, L. et al. 2021. A scoping review of system-level mechanisms to prevent children being in out-of-home care. British Journal of Social Work, article number: bcab213. (10.1093/bjsw/bcab213)
2020
- Stabler, L., Wilkins, D. and Carro, H. 2020. What do children think about their social worker? A Q-method study of children's services. Child and Family Social Work 25(1), pp. 118-126. (10.1111/cfs.12665)
2019
- Brand, S., Wood, S., Stabler, L., Addis, S., Scourfield, J., Wilkins, D. and Forrester, D. 2019. How family budget change interventions affect children being in care: a rapid evidence assessment. Project Report. [Online]. Cardiff, Wales: What Works for Children's Social Care. Available at: http://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_Family_Budget_Change_rapid_evidence_assessment_Full_Report_Aug2019.pdf
- Brand, S. et al. 2019. Mapping the evidence about what works to safely reduce the entry of children and young people into statutory care: a systematic scoping review protocol. BMJ Open 9(8), article number: e026967. (10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026967)
- Stabler, L., O'Donnell, C., Forrester, D., Diaz, C., Willis, S. and Brand, S. 2019. Shared decision-making: What is good practice in delivering meetings? Involving families meaningfully in decision-making to keep children safely at home: A rapid realist review. Technical Report.
- Meindl, M., Stabler, L., Mayhew Manistre, L., Sheehan, L., O'Donnell, C., Forrester, D. and Brand, S. 2019. How do family drug and alcohol courts work with parents to safely reduce the number of children in care? A rapid realist review. Project Report. [Online]. London: What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_FDAC_rapid_realist_review_Oct2019.pdf
2018
- Wilkins, D., Khan, M., Stabler, L., Newlands, F. and Mcdonnell, J. 2018. Evaluating the quality of social work supervision in UK children's services: comparing self-report and independent observations. Clinical Social Work Journal 46(4), pp. 350-360. (10.1007/s10615-018-0680-7)
- Brand, S. et al. 2018. Mapping the evidence about what works to safely reduce the number of children and young people in statutory care: A systematic scoping review. Technical Report.
Teaching
Support lecturing on MA Social Work (years 1 and 2)
Student dissertation supervision (undergraduate and masters)
I strive to work in partnership with staff across different diciplines. I am currently working on a TRIUMPH funded project with DECIPHER on adapting online tools to support young people's mental health. I have worked on bids and projects with researchers across the UK and in Canada.
I am keen to develop a programme of work related to kinship care and have recently been awarded an ESRC grant to explore sibling kinship carers' experiences and support needs. In addition, I have been awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship in 2019 to travel to countries in Asia (Cambodia, India and Japan) to explore approaches to foster and kinship care.