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The Centre for Research on Children and Families (CRCF) is an interdisciplinary centre located in the University of East Anglia's Faculty of Social Sciences.
The Centre for Research on Children and Families (CRCF) is an interdisciplinary research centre based at the University of East Anglia. For the last thirty years, the CRCF has been at the forefront of research on, and for, children and families. Established in 1996, the CRCF is now in its thirtieth year. Over three decades, the Centre has developed a strong national and international reputation for research that informs policy, professional practice and services for children and families.
The CRCF is led by Dr Laura L. Cook, Associate Professor in Social Work at UEA.
Our work focuses particularly on children and families who experience marginalisation and structural disadvantage. We are interested in how children and families experience professional support and systems, and in how services can be improved to better meet their needs.
CRCF research has had significant impact on national and international policy across the fields of child protection, adoption, fostering and transitional safeguarding. The Centre is regularly consulted on social care policy and practice, both nationally and internationally. For example, the CRCF recently hosted a delegation from the Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs to share research and expertise to inform the development of foster care services in Cambodia.
The CRCF is also a member of the global network of ChildWatch research institutions- a network of academic and research institutions founded in 1993 in response to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Our research
Our research encompasses:
child protection and safeguarding
child and adult social care
foster care, adoption and kinship care
the intersections between social care, health, education and justice systems
Across these areas, we are particularly interested in children and families’ journeys through professional services and systems, and in understanding how these experiences can be made more responsive, inclusive and equitable.
For more details, please see our research strategy.
The CRCF is committed to ensuring that the perspectives of children, young people and families remain central to our research. The Centre gives voice to people whose experiences and perspectives may be overlooked within existing research and professional systems. This includes, for example, research with care-experienced LGBTQ+ young people, Black and racially minoritised children and families with experience of social care, and others whose lives are shaped by structural inequalities.
Children, young people and families are involved not only as research participants or consultants, but as partners and co-researchers working alongside academics in the design, development and delivery of high-quality research. This ensures that CRCF research is meaningful, rigorous and relevant to the lives and experiences of children and families.