CASCADE

What CASCADE does

CASCADE (Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre) is a non-profit research centre embedded within Cardiff University's School of Social Sciences, established in 2014 and headquartered in Cardiff, Wales. Its mission is to improve the well-being, safety, and rights of children and families by generating and disseminating evidence on all aspects of community responses to social need, including family support services, child protection, looked after children, adoption, and youth justice. The centre works through co-production with care-experienced young people and families, supported by a Parents' Research Advisory Group and a Youth Voices group, and serves practitioners, local authority children's services, and Welsh and UK government policymakers as its primary user base.

CASCADE's core technology and methods combine large-scale administrative data linkage — leveraging its partnership with Swansea University's SAIL Databank and the School Health Research Network's biennial survey of 100,000+ 11–16 year olds — with Bayesian statistical approaches, quasi-experimental designs, and randomised controlled trials. Its product surface consists of research projects, peer-reviewed publications, CASCADE Briefings, training tools (Snakes and Ladders for youth justice, Motivational Interviewing for children's services), the Complex Safeguarding Wales toolkit co-produced with Action for Children, and the co-founded ExChange Wales dissemination platform. Notable projects include the four-year Welsh Government Basic Income Pilot evaluation (2022–2027) and evaluations of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court pilot and the Young People's Participation Pathway pilot.

The centre is entirely publicly funded and does not sell commercial products. Core infrastructure funding flows from the Welsh Government via Health and Care Research Wales (most recently a five-year 2020–2025 infrastructure award), with project-specific grants from NIHR, Nuffield Foundation, ESRC IAA, and Horizon Europe, plus commissioned evaluation contracts from bodies such as the Welsh Government, Action for Children, and the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. Operating geography is principally Wales, with growing UK and European engagement through parliamentary briefings, the Horizon Europe Serena Project, and knowledge exchange partnerships in Denmark and Italy.

Name

CASCADE

Legal name

CASCADE – Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre (Cardiff University)

Website

https://cascadewales.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CASCADE is a non-profit children's social care research centre at Cardiff University that conducts co-produced research with care-experienced young people and families, generating policy-relevant evidence for Welsh and UK government, practitioners, and academic communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cardiff

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Research Funding: Core infrastructure and project funding from Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales, including infrastructure awards (2020-2025) and project-specific grants from bodies such as NIHR, Nuffield Foundation, ESRC IAA, and European Horizon funding.
2. Commissioned Evaluations: Commissioned evaluation contracts from government bodies, including the Welsh Government's four-year evaluation of the Basic Income Pilot and evaluations of Family Drug and Alcohol Courts.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

CASCADE is a children's social care research and development centre embedded within Cardiff University. It generates new knowledge about children's social care and disseminates it to practitioners, policymakers and the public through commissioned evaluations (e.g., the four-year Welsh Basic Income Pilot evaluation), co-produced research projects, data linkage studies using the SAIL Databank, open-access publications and briefings, and practitioner training programmes such as Motivational Interviewing and Research Masterclasses.

Product overview

CASCADE (Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre) is a research center at Cardiff University, not a commercial product company. Its offerings consist of research services, publications, training programs, and dissemination platforms focused on improving children's social care. The core activities include conducting research projects (ongoing and completed), publishing reports and briefings, providing data linkage services, delivering training (Motivational Interviewing, Research Masterclasses), and facilitating knowledge exchange through ExChange Wales. Key research initiatives include the Welsh Basic Income Evaluation, Complex Safeguarding Wales resources, and various studies on child protection, looked after children, and youth justice. Public involvement is central to CASCADE's approach, with advisory groups involving parents and young people with lived experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ExChange Wales: A partnership initiative that brings leading researchers together with practitioners and service users to share expertise, research evidence and care experiences around social care.

Products and services

• Welsh Basic Income Evaluation A four-year quasi-experimental evaluation of the Welsh Government's basic income pilot for care leavers, examining health, social, and economic impacts through five work packages. Commissioned by the Welsh Government for delivery 2022–2027.
• Snakes and Ladders Training Tool A co-produced board game-style training tool for youth justice practitioners to facilitate conversations with young people about their circumstances, offending behaviours and protective factors. Co-designed with practitioners and young people.
• Motivational Interviewing for Children's Services Training Professional development training programme for children's services practitioners, based on motivational interviewing techniques for working with children and families.
• Research Masterclasses Educational sessions that build research capacity and share methodological expertise with practitioners and emerging researchers as part of CASCADE's engagement programme.
• Data Linkage Services Secure data linkage capability that combines CASCADE's biennial Student Health and Wellbeing survey data with administrative records (education, health and social services) via SAIL Databank to enable research on outcomes for children receiving social care.
• CASCADE Briefings Concise summaries of research findings designed to share evidence with practitioners and policymakers in accessible formats.
• Experimental Methods and Children's Social Care (Book) Co-edited academic volume published in October 2025 exploring the use of randomised controlled trials in children's social care.
• Complex Safeguarding Wales Resources Website and practitioner/parent toolkit providing resources on child criminal exploitation and complex safeguarding, co-produced with Action for Children and recommended by a Senedd committee.
• ExChange Wales Dissemination partnership platform bringing leading researchers together with practitioners and service users to share expertise, research evidence and care experiences on social care. CASCADE is a co-founder.

Quantifiable outcome

• CASCADE's evaluation informed Senedd discussion and contributed evidence to the Welsh Government's decision-making on Family Drug and Alcohol Courts.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• SOS Children's Villages ItalyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Host of CASCADE knowledge exchange visit to Italy in May 2026, enabling sharing of approaches to care-experienced young people's participation in policy, practice and service development.
• Voices from Care CymrucoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Accompanied CASCADE staff on Italy knowledge exchange visit. Long-standing partner in involving care-experienced young people in CASCADE's research and governance.
• Nuffield Family Justice ObservatorycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Commissioned evaluator of the Young People's Participation Pathway pilot, producing an independent evaluation of young people meeting judges during care proceedings.
• Action for ChildrencoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Commissioned CASCADE to conduct research on responses to child criminal exploitation in Wales, co-producing film 'Our Paths, Our Voices' with young people and professionals.
• Horizon Europe Serena Project (12 countries, led by INSERM France)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025CASCADE joined a €6.3 million Horizon Europe project on child maltreatment services, bringing together researchers from 12 countries to improve access to care for children affected by abuse and neglect.
• Centre for Better Childhoods, University College CopenhagenminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024International research partnership with Denmark's major new interdisciplinary childhood centre (funded £38 million over 10 years by Novo Nordisk, LEGO and TrygFonden). Professor Donald Forrester serves as Founding Director of Research.
• King's College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Co-investigator partner (Professor Michael Sanders) on the Welsh Basic Income Evaluation, leading the impact evaluation work package of this four-year commissioned evaluation.
• University of OxfordcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partners Dr Elizabeth-Ann Schroeder (economic evaluation) and Professor Stavros Petrou on the Welsh Basic Income Evaluation, providing economic expertise to assess cost-effectiveness.
• University of YorkminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Co-investigator partner (Professor Kate Pickett) on the Welsh Basic Income Evaluation, contributing to the multi-institutional research team.
• Northumbria UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Co-applicant partner (Professor Matthew Johnson) contributing expertise in UBI evaluation to the Welsh Basic Income Evaluation team.
• Centre for Homelessness ImpactminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Co-applicant partner (Guillermo Rodriguez-Guzman) providing expertise in impact evaluation and homelessness to the Welsh Basic Income Evaluation.
• Neath Port Talbot Youth Justice and Early Intervention Service (NPT YJEIS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Co-production partner on the 'Snakes and Ladders' training tool project, providing practitioner expertise and facilitating young people's involvement in design of a training tool for the youth justice system.
• Echo Games Community Interest CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Creative partner on the Snakes and Ladders training tool project, bringing game design expertise to co-produce an engaging training tool for youth justice practitioners.
• Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership established with Health and Care Research Wales infrastructure funding (2020-2025) to build innovative research programmes, establish new centres, support emerging researchers, and strengthen public involvement in children's social care research.
• SAIL Databank, Swansea UniversitycoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2020Partnership enables large-scale data linkage combining survey data with administrative records (education, health, social services) to study outcomes for children receiving social care. Key data infrastructure for multiple CASCADE projects.
• DECIPHer / School Health Research NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Collaboration provides access to biennial Student Health and Wellbeing survey data covering over 100,000 11-16 year olds across Wales, enabling linkage studies on risky behaviours in children receiving social care.
• ExChange WalescoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership brings leading researchers together with practitioners and service users to share expertise, research evidence and care experiences. CASCADE is co-founder of ExChange Wales.
• Health and Care Research WalescoreOthers · 1 January 2020Primary government funder providing infrastructure funding (2020-2025) and strategic support. Also recruits CASCADE researchers for Specialty Lead roles across Wales.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Australian Centre for Child Protection: Based at the University of South Australia, ACCP is a dedicated child protection research centre addressing child abuse and neglect with comparable mixed-methods and co-production approaches. Operates in a different geography (Australia) but is a close methodological peer.

Broad incumbents

• Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: A long-established US policy research centre producing large-scale child welfare, foster care, and youth justice research. Comparable as a major university-affiliated research centre influencing public systems serving vulnerable children, though with broader scope and US focus.

Direct peers

• Thomas Coram Research Unit (UCL): A long-established UCL social science research unit focused on children, young people, and families, including looked after children and family support. Directly comparable as a UK university-based research centre producing policy-relevant evidence for children's services.
• NIHR Children and Families Policy Research Unit: A UCL-hosted NIHR Policy Research Unit producing evidence for the Department of Health and Social Care on children's services and family policy. Comparable in commissioned-research model, UK policy audience, and focus on vulnerable children and families.
• What Works for Children's Social Care: An independent UK research and innovation centre that generates and disseminates evidence on children's social care practice, using RCTs, quasi-experimental designs, and practitioner engagement. Overlaps directly with CASCADE in methodology, audience (English/Welsh local authorities), and impact-evaluation focus.
• Nuffield Family Justice Observatory: An independent UK observatory that commissions and conducts research on family justice (including care proceedings) and is itself a CASCADE commissioner (Young People's Participation Pathway evaluation). Closely comparable in commissioning/conducting research on children's social care and family justice.
• CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Children's Care and Protection): Based at the University of Strathclyde, CELCIS is Scotland's analogous dedicated centre for children's care and protection research and practice improvement. It is the closest devolved-nation peer to CASCADE, addressing looked after children, care leavers, and family support with comparable methodologies and policy-influence goals.
• Centre for Children's Wellbeing (University of Central Lancashire): A UK university research centre focusing on children's wellbeing, including looked after children and care leavers, with policy and practice dissemination. Comparable as a UK academic centre generating evidence to inform children's services commissioning.
• Centre for Better Childhoods (University College Copenhagen): A new interdisciplinary Danish childhood research centre funded by Novo Nordisk, LEGO, and TrygFonden, where CASCADE's Professor Donald Forrester serves as Founding Director of Research. Closely comparable as a co-produced, evidence-generating centre aimed at improving children's welfare outcomes.

Others

• Joseph Rowntree Foundation: A UK poverty and disadvantage research funder that commissions and publishes evidence on social security, housing, and children's outcomes. Related as a UK evidence ecosystem participant that funds and disseminates research overlapping with CASCADE's care leaver and family support agenda.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CASCADEresearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cascadewales

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CASCADE