Since 2010 EUSARF is giving Awards to junior and senior researchers who have made a significant contribution to the field of child welfare. Winners are honored at the Biennial International EUSARF Conferences. The jury consists of board members and members of the local organizing committee.
Nominations for the next Award Ceremony (Copenhagen, 2014) can be sent at any time to info@eusarf.com or to any board member.

Winners of the Awards 2010 (Groningen)

• Professor Walter Hellinckx (University of Leuven, Belgium): Life-Time Achievement Award as founder of EUSARF and former president of the Association

• Professor David Quinton (University of Bristol, United Kingdom): Life-Time Achievement Award for his research on child welfare

Winners of the Awards 2012 (Glasgow)

The ‘Tina Egelund’ Early Career Researcher Award and the CELCIS Practitioner Award

The 12th EUSARF International Conference, the 10th Looking After Children Conference, and the inaugural Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland (CELCIS) International Conference was held in September 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland. Two awards were presented at the conference: the EUSARF Early Career Researcher Award and the CELCIS Practitioner Award. The judges for the awards were Prof. Andrew Kendrick, University of Strathclyde and Prof Harriet Ward, University of Loughborough.

Submissions for the awards were considered in terms of their clarity, rigour, research base, and evidence of impact on policy and practice.  They also had to show that they had the potential to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families.

The ‘Tine Egelund’ EUSARF Early Career Researcher Award

Sadly, shortly before the conference, our colleague and friend, Prof. Tina Egelund died following a long illness. Tina was a senior researcher at SFI, the Danish National Centre for Social Research , and an adjunct     Professor at Stockholm University. Tina made a significant contribution to social work research with disadvantaged children and families. In order to honour her memory, the Early Career Researcher award was given in her name.

The award was made to Dr Luisa Pandolfi of the University of Sassari, Italy. We felt that her submission – Crossing the Bridge: Between Protected Contexts and Autonomy – presented a clearly argued evaluation of a programme to promote social inclusion projects for young people. It detailed a multi-method approach which included qualitative research to gain the perspectives of different stakeholders, and, importantly, young people. The submission highlighted the impact for policy and practice across Sardinia, and the potential for significant improvements in the outcomes for young people leaving care.

The CELCIS Practitioner Award

The Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland aims to improve policy, practice and outcomes for children in care in Scotland through a collaborative and inclusive approach to partnership working.

The CELCIS Practitioner Award was made to Shelley Wall (Mercy Family Services), Kym Edwards (Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services) and Steven King (Mercy Family Services) of Australia. Their submission    —  Beyond Containment: Driving Change in Residential Care, A Queensland Model of Therapeutic Care – presented a well-structured description of the development of a new model of residential care. It made explicit reference to the national and international literature, and identified a process of implementing the model in trial sites. The submission also exemplified a strong partnership approach in the development of services, had an important impact on policy and practice, with the potential for significant improvements in the outcomes for children and young people in care.

We were impressed that these submissions exemplified the key themes of the conference, and we were delighted to present these awards to Luisa Pandolfi, Shelley Wall, Kym Edwards and Steven King.