Contact Us

For further information, please contact Dr Jeanette Cossar, SpeakOut Researcher on:

jeanette.cossar@uea.ac.uk

+44 (0)1603 593389

Centre of Research on Children and Families, School of Social Work, Elizabeth Fry Building, UEA, Norwich, NR4 7TJ

News

July 2018: A new film premiering this month at Norwich Pride promotes the findings of this research. Six young researchers, who identify as part of the LGBTQ community and spent time living in care, made the six-minute animation with UEA and the Creative Research Collective (CRC). The film with be screened at a public launch event on Saturday, July 28, 11.30am in the Forum Norwich as part of Norwich Pride celebrations. 

November 2017: Jeanette Cossar and the team of young researchers will attend the INVOLVE conference in London on 28th November 2017.

October 2017: Jeanette and the young reserachers have started work on a short animation based on the research findings in collboration with Creative Research Collective.

June 2017: The study had its launch conference in London of the 26th June, attended by over 100 practitioners.

April 2017: The research team has been awarded further funding by Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care to develop training materials for professionals. This work will continue through 2017 and 2018.

March 2017: A stakeholder event was held in London on the 28th June to discuss emergent findings. Representatives from the main LGBT organisations, Children in Care charities, DfE, and Government Equalities Office attended.

September 2016: Professor Gillian Schofield and Dr Jeanette Cossar presented emergent findings at the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents  (EUSARF) conference in Oviedo, Spain 13th -15th September.

SpeakOut is a national study investigating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people’s experiences of the care system.

SpeakOut was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and ran between 2014 and 2017. Data collection finished in 2016 and the findings were first disseminated at the launch conference on 26th June 2017. The research team has been awarded further funding by Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care to develop training materials for professionals; this work commenced in April 2017 and will carry on into 2018.

We have produced a research briefing which summarises the research and findings.

Watch an animation made with young researchers in collaboration with CRCF and the Creative Research Collective, discussing their experience of being LGBTQ and in care. The full film was launched on 28 July at Norwich Pride 2018.

 

Watch Dr Jeannette Cossar discussing the SpeakOut study at the CRCF Anniversary Conference on 20th April 2016:

 

 

Thank you to our participants

We would like to thank the 46 young people and 26 foster carers who have taken part in the study and the people who helped make the interviews happen.

We would also like to thank the professionals who took part in focus groups, and those who completed the national survey of practice - we are delighted that 78% of local authorities responded.

In addition, we are grateful to our team of young researchers who continue to be involved with the study.

Organisation links

ESRC logo   CRCF logoUEA logoNational Institute for Health Research logo