The CAFADA team has had an exciting few months since our launch on 1 October 2019. We have met with our delivery partners in London, Manchester, Bedford, Northamptonshire, Falkirk, Edinburgh and Fife. It’s been fascinating to hear their accounts of how their innovative programmes have developed.

In the next few months we will begin the first major data collection phase of our project, which involves engagement with key informants and stakeholders in each delivery site. Together we will build a history of the innovation, exploring what has enabled each innovation to happen in each site.

We will also start our first major piece of involvement work with children, young people, and carers. We will be talking to families about research we plan to do in each innovation, and will be asking them to help us design our interview questions, and the information we share with participants.

In the background, we have started to build a rigorous theoretically and research informed understanding of what we know about social care innovation, with a particular focus on services for children and for people impacted by domestic abuse.

Our full research team will be in post in the spring, including new research assistants, and a PhD student whose work will focus on domestic homicide.

Do watch this space. Exciting things to come!