The Annual CRN Conference was held in University College Dublin this year on the 6th December 2023, in collaboration with the UCD Childhood and Human Development Research Centre (UCD CHilD-RC).
The conference featured keynote speakers and presentations relevant to the conference theme.
The theme of the conference is ‘the impact of policies, processes and practice on children and young people on the island of Ireland’.
The impact of policies, processes, and practices on children and young people on the island of Ireland cannot be overstated. The approaches by governments and organisations, coupled with the strategies implemented to uphold them, shape the foundation for children and young people to grow, develop and thrive. These policies determine their access to education, healthcare, and social services, as well as safeguarding their rights and protecting them from harm. The Children's Research Network (CRN) and the UCD CHilD Research Centre want to explore the interaction and intersection of these policies, processes, and practices to understand the current landscape that impacts the well-being and development of children and young people on the Island of Ireland.
As part of the CRN & UCD CHilD-RC Annual Conference 2023, we had three keynote speeches lined up to discuss the policies, processes and practices that impact children and young people across the island of Ireland.
Meet our Keynote Speakers!
Our first keynote speakers were Dr Sandra McNulty and Sinead Fitzpatrick!
Dr Sandra McNulty and Sinead Fitzpatrick will be discussing the practice implications of working with children and young people using their experiences at ChildVision, the National Education Centre for Blind Children.
Dr Sandra McNulty is a Clinical and Counselling Psychologist with a background of working with children with chronic and rare diseases. She worked for seven years in the Neurology Department and the Paediatric Liaison Service in Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street. During her time in Temple Street, she was involved as Co-Principal Investigator in a research project called SAMPI which looked at the experiences of children with rare disease, using creative methods, such as Sandtray, Art, Music and Photovoice, as research tools.
Dr McNulty is currently working as a Principal Psychologist in ChildVision, a service for children, adolescents and young adults with optical and neurological visual impairment. She is particularly interested in assessments for Autism Spectrum Disorder in visually impaired children and providing a differential diagnosis that recognises blindisms.
Sinead Fitzpatrick has a degree in English and History from National University of Ireland, Maynooth, a higher diploma in Linguistics from University College Dublin and a Master of Science in Speech and Language Therapy from the University of Essex.
Sinead has over ten years’ experience working as a Senior Speech and Language Therapist within the children’s disability sector. She is currently the Clinical Director of Therapy Services at ChildVision and specialises in providing clinical speech and language therapy services for children and young people with optical and neurological visual impairments. Sinead is currently working on expanding the national assessment and therapy services for ChildVision under the Progressing Disability Services (PDS) model.
Assessing for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children and young people with a visual impairment is a specific area of interest for Sinead. She is working on modifying assessment materials and ways of interpreting clinical observations which would be suitable for a visually impaired caseload.
Favour Ochonma delivered the Youth Voice Address!
Favour is currently a final-year student, specialising in Children's and General Nursing and undertaking her internship. Her eye-opening experience as the President of the UCD Africa Society has illuminated the negative perceptions within her community about our healthcare system. This experience has ignited a deep determination to bridge the gap and make equitable healthcare accessible for all.
Favour’s commitment to children's health extends to two significant areas: sickle cell disease and mental health. She has always been dedicated to enhancing healthcare outcomes for children dealing with sickle cell disease, recognising the unique challenges they face, and the impact it has on their lives and their families. Moreover, she has a strong interest in the mental health issues affecting children, understanding the importance of both physical and mental well-being in their overall development.
As she looks forward to her future in the healthcare field, Favour is eager to contribute to the Children's Research Network. Her academic foundation, practical experience, and unwavering dedication to children's healthcare makes her well-suited to play a meaningful role in the realm of paediatric research and healthcare, all with the goal of making equitable healthcare accessible for every child in our community.
Our final keynote speakers were Dr Mandi Macdonald and Professor Davy Hayes!
Dr Mandi Macdonald and Professor Davy Hayes will be making the trip from Queen’s University Belfast to join us. They are Co-Directors of the Centre for Child, Youth and Family Welfare at the university.
Dr Mandi MacDonald is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work in the school of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast and is Co-Director of the Centre for Child, Youth and Family Welfare.
Mandi qualified as a social worker in 1996 and worked for 14 years in statutory child welfare services before joining Queen’s in 2010. Her teaching and research focus on the needs and rights of children and young people who are in out-of-home care or adopted, especially the experience of family life in permanent placements, and on supporting families. In the Building Better Futures project, she partnered with social work agencies to develop, implement and evaluate a framework for assessing and enhancing parenting capacity when children need support or protection.
Mandi has a particular interest in the application of trauma-informed approaches and children’s use of digital communication technology for supporting birth family connections in alternative care and adoption, and in enhancing the supportive social networks of care-experienced young people.
Professor Davy Hayes is Professor of Child Protection and Safeguarding at Queen’s University Belfast where he is a core member of the Bachelor in Social Work (BSW) teaching team. He has over 30 years experience as a practitioner, educator, and researcher in child protection and safeguarding.
His main research interests include service user experiences of the child protection and criminal justice systems, the involvement of family members in child protection and child welfare processes, the practice and experiences of professionals who operate the child protection system, and social work assessment and decision making in child welfare. This research has included recent work on the use of family group conferences, both with children and families and adults, an evaluation of the Safety in Partnership/Signs of Safety approach to child and family social work, the use of the voluntary sector to provide services to children and families, an evaluation of the Families Matter programme designed to help improve and maintain relationships between children and their imprisoned fathers, and an analysis of complaints made about child and family social workers to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council and the Patient and Client Council.
The objective of his research is to identify ways in which the experiences of both those delivering and receiving child protection and welfare services can be improved.
Check out the conference programme below!
The conference featured 6 sessions with a total 32 presentations, as well as 12 posters!
Check out the conference welcome booklet, below!