Alyson Rees
Biographic Data
| ID | 4781497 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alyson Rees |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alyson |
| FAMILY NAME | Rees |
| SIGNATURE | REES A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Cardiff University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2363-4965 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 56 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Children at the Centre
The Welsh Government commissioned research to develop a national model of support to improve wellbeing and educational outcomes for children when a parent goes to prison, with a particular interest in collaboration between prisons and schools. Central to this ASPIRE project (Actioning a Schools and Prisons Independent Research Evaluation) were children’s rights, listening to the voices of children and families, multi-agency collaboration, evidenc…
Multiagency Collaborations to Support Well‐Being Amongst Care‐Experienced Children and Young People in School and During Transition to Further Education College
Multiagency collaboration to address care‐experienced children and young people's mental well‐being has been advocated as a way of attending to complex needs while avoiding fragmented support. Key sectors with a statutory role include education, mental health and social care, and there is increasing interest at a UK and global scale about stakeholder experiences of multiagency collaboration and how sectors work together when young people transiti…
A multi-disciplinary analysis of adult practice reviews
Purpose The purpose of this study is to read across 20 adult practice reviews (APRs) undertaken in Wales to identify cross-cutting themes. Design/methodology/approach The method was for each APR to be read and independently coded by four researchers from differing disciplines of criminology, law and social work. Findings Five overarching themes were identified of (safeguarding, capacity and duty to report; commissioning and inspection; transition…
Mental Wellbeing Needs and Support for Care‐Experienced Children and Young People in Secondary School and During the Transition to Further Education College
Education settings are critical for supporting mental wellbeing, but there is limited support specifically for care‐experienced children and young people, including gaps in supporting the transition to Further Education (FE) colleges. Using a mixture of qualitative methods, this study aimed to understand mental wellbeing provision in secondary schools and FE colleges in Wales, UK, for those currently or formerly in foster, kinship or residential …
The worst day of my life’
Appropriate allegation investigations within social care are paramount to protect children. However, many allegations are unsubstantiated ( Biehal et al., 2014 ) and result in stress and anxiety for fostering families ( Adams, Hassett and Lumsden, 2018 ), financial uncertainty ( Boffey, Stanton and Thomas, 2019 ), unplanned endings and foster carers leaving their role ( Adams, Hassett and Lumsden, 2018 ). There is little research into the prevale…
Fostering wellbeing
This article reports on an evaluation of the Fostering Wellbeing programme, a set of five themed masterclasses delivered in two local authorities to a group of multi-disciplinary professionals in the team around the foster child. The programme also included the development of the role of the foster carer Pioneer. The evaluation found benefits of the multi-disciplinary training, but attendance and commitment from some professionals were limited. T…
The motivations and decision-making processes of parents who adopt older children
This article explores the motivations and decision-making processes of parents who adopt older children from the UK care system. It draws on interview data from parents from 14 adoptive families to consider what influenced their decision to adopt an older child. Data were analysed thematically, and the analysis was theoretically informed by the concept of adoption as a ‘marketplace’. The study shows how prospective adoptive parents can be influen…
Family doesn’t have to be mom and dad
Young people who experience out-of-home care have typically encountered difficult and/or disrupted family relationships. This article reports on a survey undertaken in the US with 215 young adults (aged 18–22) who experienced out-of-home care starting in pre-adolescence. The article examines responses to an open-ended interview question, ‘How do you define family?’ The analysis highlighted that few young people define family as confined to blood …
It’s Been a Massive Struggle’
This article explores the experiences of young people leaving state care during COVID-19. Twenty-one young people, predominantly from Wales, engaged in semi-structured interviews and/or contributed poems and artwork conveying their experiences of the pandemic. The data generated offered insights into young people’s daily lives, including their routines and relationships, as well as access to resources and services. The study found stark disparity…
Corporate parenting in a pandemic
Children and Young People ‘Looked After’?
Making connections
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to “read across” a sample of domestic homicide reviews (DHRs), mental health homicide reviews (MHHRs) and adult practice reviews (APR) to identify the cross-cutting themes. Design/methodology/approach The study involved a qualitative comparative analysis of 20 Welsh reviews: 10 DHRs, 6 APRs and 4 MHHRs. Each review was triple coded by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers (representing criminology, social w…
New public management and practitioner autonomy in children’s services in Norway and Wales
The article examines aspects of professional autonomy informed by cross sectional surveys of social workers in Wales (UK) and Norway. The data show that in Wales there is circumscribed autonomy whereby rule compliance is both expected and scrutinised, and practitioners are more likely to spend time as a ‘screen-worker’, fettered by austerity, risk-focused and safety-oriented towards children. The Norwegian sample appears to enjoy front-line freed…
Child Neglect in Namibia
This article initiates the conversation on the conceptualisation of child neglect in Namibia, reporting findings from a small study undertaken in 2017. The research is a collaboration between academics at the University of Namibia, Africa, University of Bristol and Cardiff University in the UK. The study is the first of its kind in Namibia, offering original knowledge about what constitutes neglect for children in the local context of child-reari…
Video Interaction Guidance
In response to the shift away from direct work in social work, there has been resurgence in relationship-based participatory approaches. Such approaches are dependent upon practitioner expertise in developing and sustaining relationships with families. This article presents findings from an evaluation of the Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) Service embedded within Children’s Services in a unitary authority in England. The Service provides therape…
Views from birth children
This article reports on an in-depth qualitative case study of 10 foster care families across England and Wales, and focuses on the birth children and their experiences of supporting the young people placed with them. We explore with these children and young people some of the challenges they perceive, the benefits they reap, as well as the skills and strengths that they bring to fostering. Their accounts of caring indicate that birth children eng…
A Profile of UK Doctoral Candidates in Social Work and Social Care
One important indication of the strength of a discipline is the state of its doctoral research. An important milestone for the official recognition of social work in the UK has been its inclusion in Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) doctoral funding schemes. The current study assesses the longer-term impact of these schemes, via a 2013 survey, following up a previous one in 2008. A web-based survey of social work doctoral candidates in …
Regionalisation
We provide an overview of the National Adoption Service for Wales (NAS) which was launched in November 2014. Further to a 2016 briefing by John Simmonds, Director of Policy, Research & Development at CoramBAAF, on the regionalisation of adoption services in England, we outline the background and legislative changes that have been made in Wales and report on progress so far. We summarise the current position of NAS, drawing on a wide range of cons…
The consequences of being labelled ‘looked‐after’
The educational experiences and attainment of looked‐after children and young people ( LACYP ) remains an issue of widespread international concern. Within the UK , children and young people in care achieve poorer educational outcomes compared to individuals not in care. Despite proliferation of research documenting the reasons for educational disadvantage amongst this population, there remains limited empirical consideration of the lived experie…
The acceptability of educational Interventions
Food in Foster Families
This study explores the significance of food and mealtimes in relation to the transition into foster care and the therapeutic settling of the child in a new family. In doing so, we draw upon an in‐depth, qualitative case study of 10 experienced foster families in the UK focusing on what helped them to be successful. At the time of the study, there were 16 foster children, aged 9–16, living with the families. Data collection included semi‐structur…
Care as Regulated and Care in the Obdurate World of Intimate Relations
This paper outlines briefly care as a formal construct of a highly regulatory approach to being looked after in the setting of foster care. It then moves on to consider care and its expression within the interdependencies and everyday moral ‘workings out’ between people in caring relationships. These relationships are informed partly by exterior regulation, but also emerge predominantly from care as a social process and daily human activity in wh…
Connecting with Children
The intimate world of strangers – embodying the child in foster care
In this paper we look at fostering with particular regard to embodiment and the body, the boundaries around it and related aspects of intimacy in foster home settings. Based upon mixed qualitative methods comprising mainly audiotaped interviews and audiotaped diaries it was possible to document and analyse key activities, meanings and relationships that inform the private world of foster care. In doing so, the paper looks first at sociological no…
The consequences of being labelled ‘looked‐after’
The educational experiences and attainment of looked‐after children and young people ( LACYP ) remains an issue of widespread international concern. Within the UK , children and young people in care achieve poorer educational outcomes compared to individuals not in care. Despite proliferation of research documenting the reasons for educational disadvantage amongst this population, there remains limited empirical consideration of the lived experie…
It’s Been a Massive Struggle’
This article explores the experiences of young people leaving state care during COVID-19. Twenty-one young people, predominantly from Wales, engaged in semi-structured interviews and/or contributed poems and artwork conveying their experiences of the pandemic. The data generated offered insights into young people’s daily lives, including their routines and relationships, as well as access to resources and services. The study found stark disparity…
The intimate world of strangers – embodying the child in foster care
In this paper we look at fostering with particular regard to embodiment and the body, the boundaries around it and related aspects of intimacy in foster home settings. Based upon mixed qualitative methods comprising mainly audiotaped interviews and audiotaped diaries it was possible to document and analyse key activities, meanings and relationships that inform the private world of foster care. In doing so, the paper looks first at sociological no…
Care as Regulated and Care in the Obdurate World of Intimate Relations
This paper outlines briefly care as a formal construct of a highly regulatory approach to being looked after in the setting of foster care. It then moves on to consider care and its expression within the interdependencies and everyday moral ‘workings out’ between people in caring relationships. These relationships are informed partly by exterior regulation, but also emerge predominantly from care as a social process and daily human activity in wh…
Corporate parenting in a pandemic
A Profile of UK Doctoral Candidates in Social Work and Social Care
One important indication of the strength of a discipline is the state of its doctoral research. An important milestone for the official recognition of social work in the UK has been its inclusion in Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) doctoral funding schemes. The current study assesses the longer-term impact of these schemes, via a 2013 survey, following up a previous one in 2008. A web-based survey of social work doctoral candidates in …
Regionalisation
We provide an overview of the National Adoption Service for Wales (NAS) which was launched in November 2014. Further to a 2016 briefing by John Simmonds, Director of Policy, Research & Development at CoramBAAF, on the regionalisation of adoption services in England, we outline the background and legislative changes that have been made in Wales and report on progress so far. We summarise the current position of NAS, drawing on a wide range of cons…
Making connections
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to “read across” a sample of domestic homicide reviews (DHRs), mental health homicide reviews (MHHRs) and adult practice reviews (APR) to identify the cross-cutting themes. Design/methodology/approach The study involved a qualitative comparative analysis of 20 Welsh reviews: 10 DHRs, 6 APRs and 4 MHHRs. Each review was triple coded by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers (representing criminology, social w…
Fostering wellbeing
This article reports on an evaluation of the Fostering Wellbeing programme, a set of five themed masterclasses delivered in two local authorities to a group of multi-disciplinary professionals in the team around the foster child. The programme also included the development of the role of the foster carer Pioneer. The evaluation found benefits of the multi-disciplinary training, but attendance and commitment from some professionals were limited. T…
Family doesn’t have to be mom and dad
Young people who experience out-of-home care have typically encountered difficult and/or disrupted family relationships. This article reports on a survey undertaken in the US with 215 young adults (aged 18–22) who experienced out-of-home care starting in pre-adolescence. The article examines responses to an open-ended interview question, ‘How do you define family?’ The analysis highlighted that few young people define family as confined to blood …
New public management and practitioner autonomy in children’s services in Norway and Wales
The article examines aspects of professional autonomy informed by cross sectional surveys of social workers in Wales (UK) and Norway. The data show that in Wales there is circumscribed autonomy whereby rule compliance is both expected and scrutinised, and practitioners are more likely to spend time as a ‘screen-worker’, fettered by austerity, risk-focused and safety-oriented towards children. The Norwegian sample appears to enjoy front-line freed…
Child Neglect in Namibia
This article initiates the conversation on the conceptualisation of child neglect in Namibia, reporting findings from a small study undertaken in 2017. The research is a collaboration between academics at the University of Namibia, Africa, University of Bristol and Cardiff University in the UK. The study is the first of its kind in Namibia, offering original knowledge about what constitutes neglect for children in the local context of child-reari…
The intimate world of strangers – embodying the child in foster care
In this paper we look at fostering with particular regard to embodiment and the body, the boundaries around it and related aspects of intimacy in foster home settings. Based upon mixed qualitative methods comprising mainly audiotaped interviews and audiotaped diaries it was possible to document and analyse key activities, meanings and relationships that inform the private world of foster care. In doing so, the paper looks first at sociological no…
Connecting with Children
Care as Regulated and Care in the Obdurate World of Intimate Relations
This paper outlines briefly care as a formal construct of a highly regulatory approach to being looked after in the setting of foster care. It then moves on to consider care and its expression within the interdependencies and everyday moral ‘workings out’ between people in caring relationships. These relationships are informed partly by exterior regulation, but also emerge predominantly from care as a social process and daily human activity in wh…
Food in Foster Families
This study explores the significance of food and mealtimes in relation to the transition into foster care and the therapeutic settling of the child in a new family. In doing so, we draw upon an in‐depth, qualitative case study of 10 experienced foster families in the UK focusing on what helped them to be successful. At the time of the study, there were 16 foster children, aged 9–16, living with the families. Data collection included semi‐structur…
The acceptability of educational Interventions
Regionalisation
We provide an overview of the National Adoption Service for Wales (NAS) which was launched in November 2014. Further to a 2016 briefing by John Simmonds, Director of Policy, Research & Development at CoramBAAF, on the regionalisation of adoption services in England, we outline the background and legislative changes that have been made in Wales and report on progress so far. We summarise the current position of NAS, drawing on a wide range of cons…
The consequences of being labelled ‘looked‐after’
The educational experiences and attainment of looked‐after children and young people ( LACYP ) remains an issue of widespread international concern. Within the UK , children and young people in care achieve poorer educational outcomes compared to individuals not in care. Despite proliferation of research documenting the reasons for educational disadvantage amongst this population, there remains limited empirical consideration of the lived experie…
Views from birth children
This article reports on an in-depth qualitative case study of 10 foster care families across England and Wales, and focuses on the birth children and their experiences of supporting the young people placed with them. We explore with these children and young people some of the challenges they perceive, the benefits they reap, as well as the skills and strengths that they bring to fostering. Their accounts of caring indicate that birth children eng…
A Profile of UK Doctoral Candidates in Social Work and Social Care
One important indication of the strength of a discipline is the state of its doctoral research. An important milestone for the official recognition of social work in the UK has been its inclusion in Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) doctoral funding schemes. The current study assesses the longer-term impact of these schemes, via a 2013 survey, following up a previous one in 2008. A web-based survey of social work doctoral candidates in …
Children and Young People ‘Looked After’?
Making connections
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to “read across” a sample of domestic homicide reviews (DHRs), mental health homicide reviews (MHHRs) and adult practice reviews (APR) to identify the cross-cutting themes. Design/methodology/approach The study involved a qualitative comparative analysis of 20 Welsh reviews: 10 DHRs, 6 APRs and 4 MHHRs. Each review was triple coded by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers (representing criminology, social w…
New public management and practitioner autonomy in children’s services in Norway and Wales
The article examines aspects of professional autonomy informed by cross sectional surveys of social workers in Wales (UK) and Norway. The data show that in Wales there is circumscribed autonomy whereby rule compliance is both expected and scrutinised, and practitioners are more likely to spend time as a ‘screen-worker’, fettered by austerity, risk-focused and safety-oriented towards children. The Norwegian sample appears to enjoy front-line freed…
Child Neglect in Namibia
This article initiates the conversation on the conceptualisation of child neglect in Namibia, reporting findings from a small study undertaken in 2017. The research is a collaboration between academics at the University of Namibia, Africa, University of Bristol and Cardiff University in the UK. The study is the first of its kind in Namibia, offering original knowledge about what constitutes neglect for children in the local context of child-reari…
Video Interaction Guidance
In response to the shift away from direct work in social work, there has been resurgence in relationship-based participatory approaches. Such approaches are dependent upon practitioner expertise in developing and sustaining relationships with families. This article presents findings from an evaluation of the Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) Service embedded within Children’s Services in a unitary authority in England. The Service provides therape…
It’s Been a Massive Struggle’
This article explores the experiences of young people leaving state care during COVID-19. Twenty-one young people, predominantly from Wales, engaged in semi-structured interviews and/or contributed poems and artwork conveying their experiences of the pandemic. The data generated offered insights into young people’s daily lives, including their routines and relationships, as well as access to resources and services. The study found stark disparity…
Corporate parenting in a pandemic
Fostering wellbeing
This article reports on an evaluation of the Fostering Wellbeing programme, a set of five themed masterclasses delivered in two local authorities to a group of multi-disciplinary professionals in the team around the foster child. The programme also included the development of the role of the foster carer Pioneer. The evaluation found benefits of the multi-disciplinary training, but attendance and commitment from some professionals were limited. T…
The motivations and decision-making processes of parents who adopt older children
This article explores the motivations and decision-making processes of parents who adopt older children from the UK care system. It draws on interview data from parents from 14 adoptive families to consider what influenced their decision to adopt an older child. Data were analysed thematically, and the analysis was theoretically informed by the concept of adoption as a ‘marketplace’. The study shows how prospective adoptive parents can be influen…
Family doesn’t have to be mom and dad
Young people who experience out-of-home care have typically encountered difficult and/or disrupted family relationships. This article reports on a survey undertaken in the US with 215 young adults (aged 18–22) who experienced out-of-home care starting in pre-adolescence. The article examines responses to an open-ended interview question, ‘How do you define family?’ The analysis highlighted that few young people define family as confined to blood …
The worst day of my life’
Appropriate allegation investigations within social care are paramount to protect children. However, many allegations are unsubstantiated ( Biehal et al., 2014 ) and result in stress and anxiety for fostering families ( Adams, Hassett and Lumsden, 2018 ), financial uncertainty ( Boffey, Stanton and Thomas, 2019 ), unplanned endings and foster carers leaving their role ( Adams, Hassett and Lumsden, 2018 ). There is little research into the prevale…
A multi-disciplinary analysis of adult practice reviews
Purpose The purpose of this study is to read across 20 adult practice reviews (APRs) undertaken in Wales to identify cross-cutting themes. Design/methodology/approach The method was for each APR to be read and independently coded by four researchers from differing disciplines of criminology, law and social work. Findings Five overarching themes were identified of (safeguarding, capacity and duty to report; commissioning and inspection; transition…
Mental Wellbeing Needs and Support for Care‐Experienced Children and Young People in Secondary School and During the Transition to Further Education College
Education settings are critical for supporting mental wellbeing, but there is limited support specifically for care‐experienced children and young people, including gaps in supporting the transition to Further Education (FE) colleges. Using a mixture of qualitative methods, this study aimed to understand mental wellbeing provision in secondary schools and FE colleges in Wales, UK, for those currently or formerly in foster, kinship or residential …
Children at the Centre
The Welsh Government commissioned research to develop a national model of support to improve wellbeing and educational outcomes for children when a parent goes to prison, with a particular interest in collaboration between prisons and schools. Central to this ASPIRE project (Actioning a Schools and Prisons Independent Research Evaluation) were children’s rights, listening to the voices of children and families, multi-agency collaboration, evidenc…
Multiagency Collaborations to Support Well‐Being Amongst Care‐Experienced Children and Young People in School and During Transition to Further Education College
Multiagency collaboration to address care‐experienced children and young people's mental well‐being has been advocated as a way of attending to complex needs while avoiding fragmented support. Key sectors with a statutory role include education, mental health and social care, and there is increasing interest at a UK and global scale about stakeholder experiences of multiagency collaboration and how sectors work together when young people transiti…
Psychology (18 works) · Child Welfare and Adoption (14 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Medicine (13 works) · Political science (13 works) · Nursing (9 works) · Social science (9 works) · Family Support in Illness (8 works) · Developmental psychology (7 works) · Public relations (7 works)