Dr Katie Ellis
BSc, MSc, PhD
Nursing and Midwifery, School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery
Senior Lecturer in Child Welfare
+44 114 222 2059
Full contact details
Nursing and Midwifery, School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery
Room 107
362 Mushroom Lane
91Ö±²¥
S10 2TS
- Profile
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Katie joined the School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery in June 2017 having previously worked as a researcher at the Research Exchange for the Social Sciences (RESS) and the Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth (CSCY) at the University of 91Ö±²¥.
Her work considers the intersection between health and social care and seeks to influence policy and practice relating to children in care and young people leaving care.
She is also the co-director of the SCYPHeR Initiative, which is working to build research collaborations and to improve the outcomes for children and young people across the region.
- Research interests
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Katie uses research to consider the experiences of children in care and young people leaving care. She has conducted research with children living in Youth Offending Institutions, Secure Children’s Homes and Special Education Provisions. Her work has considered conceptions of vulnerability and responsibilisation concerning young people’s criminal pathways and sexual exploitation.
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While Katie's past research focused on the experiences of young people who have been ‘let down’ by state systems and institutions, her current research focuses on the experiences of young people who are considered to have 'made it' and have seemingly defied the odds stacked against them. Her Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship explored transitions from care to university and set out policy recommendations for universities, which have been endorsed by the Office for Students, UCAS, NNECL and the Care Leaver Covenant.
Katie's current research is exploring the experiences of care leavers who become parents to consider the lifelong impacts of social work intervention.
Current research
Everyday Parenting with Care Experience
Pathways to University from Care
Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship 2016 - 2020
This research shares the voices of 234 care experienced students to make 15 policy recommendations for universities, which have been endorsed by the Office for Students, UCAS, NNECL and the Care Leaver Covenant. You can access the report and access our three minute animation .
Young and homeless: Welfare Reforms in Practice
British Academy Small Grant (With Dr Danielle Leahy Laughlin).
This research shares the experiences of young people living in a specialist youth homeless hostel and shares recommendations for those looking to support young people with no fixed abode.TURNING 18: Independence or cliff edge?
Crook Public Service Fellowship (supporting Alice Field from Young Futures).
'There are no good kids here: Girls’ Experiences of Secure Accommodation’
ESRC Case Studentship PhD Project
Changing Families, Changing Food: Children as Family Participants
Leverhulme Large Network Grant (With Professor Allison James and Professor Penny Curtis)
Young People’s Pathways in and out of Crime
ESRC Large Grant and Priority Network (With Professor Derek Armstrong, Professor Alan France and Jean Hine)
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- Publications
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Journal articles
- . Children and Youth Services Review, 156, 107319-107319.
- . JSM Sexual Medicine, 7(4), 1-12.
- . International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22.
- . Higher Education.
- . Child & Family Social Work, 26(3), 329-337.
- . Child and Youth Services.
- . Children & Society, 35(5), 784-798.
- . Child Abuse Review, 28(6), 405-417.
- . Children and Youth Services Review, 88, 156-163.
- . British Journal of Social Work, 46(6), 1553-1567.
- . Children and Society, 26(2), 112-123.
- . Children's Geographies, 8(3), 291-302.
- . European Journal of Social Work, 1-13.
- . Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
- . British Educational Research Journal.
- . European Journal of Higher Education, 1-20.
Chapters
- Vulnerability as lived experience: Marginalised women and girls in the UK, Women, Vulnerabilities and Welfare Service Systems (pp. 13-25).
- , Families, Intergenerationality, and Peer Group Relations (pp. 149-168). Springer Singapore
- In Punch S, Vanderbeck R & Skelton T (Ed.), Families, Intergenerationality and Peer Group Relations (pp. 1-20). Singapore: Springer.
- 'She's got a really good attitude to healthy food ... Nannan's drilled it into her': Inter-generational Relations within Families, CHANGING FAMILIES, CHANGING FOOD (pp. 77-+).
- Negotiating Family, Negotiating Food: Children as Family Participants?, CHILDREN, FOOD AND IDENTITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE (pp. 35-51).
- Institutional Dining Rooms: Food Ideologies and the Making of a Person, CHANGING FAMILIES, CHANGING FOOD (pp. 226-+).
- Fathering through Food: Children's Perceptions of Fathers' Contributions to Family Food Practices, CHILDREN, FOOD AND IDENTITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE (pp. 94-111).
Reports
- Research group
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I welcome doctoral applications from students interested in the following research areas:
- Children’s decision-making
- Issues or challenges in care
- Transitions out of care
- Experiences of care experienced adults
- Perceptions of vulnerability
- Child sexual exploitation
- Grants
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'Good Enough' Parenting in the Context of Leaving Care
Leverhulme Trust Grant 2024-2027
This forthcoming study will collaborate with care-experienced parents to share alternative narratives about whether and how childhood experiences influence parenting ideals.
Changing Safeguards for Children in Care: The Perspectives of Care Experienced People and Practitioners
BA Leverhulme Small Grant (With Dr Robin Sen) 2021-2023
This research explores the impact of recent legislative changes on children in state care and considers the mechanisms by which those with lived experience can inform policy and practice developments.
- Teaching interests
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I supervise PhDs in issues relating to children’s decision-making, child sexual exploitation or research that explores the experiences of children in care or young people leaving care.
- Professional activities and memberships
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Co-director of SCYPHeR (91Ö±²¥ Children and Young People's Health Research)