Dr Emma Young
Research And Evaluation Associate
Centre for Excellence for Children's Care and Protection
Personal statement
Personal statement
I am a social researcher at the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS) based in the department for Social Work and Social Policy.
I have knowledge and expertise that spans across both research, evaluation and the use of evidence to support policy and practice improvements.
I am passionate about undertaking research which positively impacts on individuals and their experiences of accessing help and support from society.
My primary research interest is on youth transitions from care, with a particular focus on parents with care experience. More broadly, I am interested in using evidence and data to support policy implementation, practice development, and systems improvement relating to services for children and families.
Alongside working at CELCIS, I completed a part-time PhD titled ‘Exploring professional responses to mothers in and leaving care in pregnancy and in parenthood’, within the Department of Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Strathclyde. This study was funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council on the social work and social policy student-led doctoral training pathway.
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Publications
- The impact of health and social care integration on children and young people’s outcomes : what can be determined from Scotland’s administrative data?
- Soraghan Joanna, McTier Alexander, Anderson Micky, Anderson Carol Ann, Young Emma, Bowman Adrian, Ottaway Heather
- International Journal of Integrated Care Vol 25 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.9145
- Children's Services Reform Research : Learning and Implications for Scotland: Concluding Report
- Ottaway Heather, McTier Alex, Manole Mihaela, Anderson Micky, Porter Robert, Scott Jane, Young Emma, Fowler Nadine, Soraghan Joanna, McIver Leanne, Anderson Carol Ann, Mackinnon Kate
- (2023)
- Children's Services Reform Research : Scotland's Children's Services Landscape: The Views and Experiences of the Children's Services Workforce
- McTier Alex, Manole Mihaela, Scott Jane, Young Emma, Fowler Nadine, McIver Leanne, Anderson Carol Ann, Porter Robert, Ottaway Heather
- (2023)
- Children's Services Reform Research : Mapping Integration and Outcomes Across Scotland: A Statistical Analysis
- Anderson Micky, Soraghan Joanna, Bowman Adrian, Anderson Carol Ann, Young Emma, McTier Alexander, Ottaway Heather
- (2023)
- Children's Services Reform Research Study : Rapid Evidence Review
- Porter Robert, Young Emma, Scott Jane, McIver Leanne, Mackinnon Kate, Fowler Nadine, Ottaway Heather
- (2023)
- Children's Services Reform Research Study : Rapid Evidence Review : Summary Report
- Porter Robert, Young Emma, Scott Jane, McIver Leanne, Mackinnon Kate, Fowler Nadine, Ottaway Heather
- (2023)
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Professional Activities
- NIHR National Institute for Health and Care Research (Publisher)
- Peer reviewer
- 22/10/2025
- Prevention and early intervention services amid increasing challenges: insights from Scotland's children's services workforce
- Speaker
- 10/9/2025
- Meeting the needs of children and families transitioning to adult services
- Speaker
- 12/6/2025
- Undertaking and using social policy research to inform and influence policy and practice
- Speaker
- 4/7/2024
- Introduction to the Scottish Care System
- Speaker
- 29/1/2024
- Introduction to the Scottish Care System
- Speaker
- 6/2/2023
Projects
- The Bright Spots Programme Scottish Pilot - Phase 2
- Anderson, Micky (Principal Investigator) McGregor, Sharon (Co-investigator) Young, Emma (Co-investigator) Anderson, Carolann (Co-investigator)
- 02-Jan-2023 - 18-Jan-2025
- The Voice and Inclusions Project - Recommendations and Action Planning
- Porter, Robert Benjamin (Principal Investigator) Young, Emma (Co-investigator)
- The VIP work sought to address this using a participative research approach through which children and young people could share their knowledge and views to inform policy and practice improvements within the Hearings System. The work of the VIP project began in the spring of 2021 with funding to continue until spring 2023. In 2021 CELCIS applied to the HaSS knowledge exchange funding call to support the development of these recommendations into actionable plans for implementation. In December 2021 CELCIS were awarded £12, 148.89 through the HaSS knowledge exchange funding on the ‘impact case study development grants’ pathway. The VIP recommendations work ran through July and August 2022.
- 03-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2023
- Children's Services Reform Research study
- Ottaway, Heather (Principal Investigator) Porter, Robert Benjamin (Co-investigator) McTier, Alexander (Co-investigator) Anderson, Micky (Co-investigator) Young, Emma (Co-investigator) McIver, Leanne (Co-investigator) Fowler, Nadine (Co-investigator) Mackinnon, Kate (Co-investigator) Soraghan, Joanna (Co-investigator) Manole, Mihaela (Co-investigator)
- A research project commissioned by Scottish Government with the aim of gathering evidence to inform decision-making about how best to deliver children's services in Scotland in light of the proposed introduction of the National Care Service
- 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2023
- Births to care experienced teenagers and women aged 14-24 in Scotland: an estimation
- McTier, Alexander (Principal Investigator) Young, Emma (Researcher) Anderson, Carol Ann (Researcher)
- Using secondary data, the research developed a methodology for estimating the number of births to care experienced teenagers and women in Scotland.
- 01-Jan-2022 - 28-Jan-2023
- Review of Corporate Parenting Activity by Scotland's Corporate Parents 2018-2021
- McTier, Alexander (Researcher) Young, Emma (Researcher) Thomson, Elizabeth (Researcher)
- Research support provided to Scottish Government to inform the triennial National Corporate Parenting Report. The research includes a systematic review of organisation's Corporate Parenting Plans and their survey responses detailing their activity and impact over the 3-year period
- 01-Jan-2020 - 17-Jan-2021
- The Journey of the Scottish Adoption Therapy Centre: Learning and Reflections
- Manole, Mihaela (Principal Investigator) Young, Emma (Researcher)
- Learning effort which explored the views and experiences of adopted children and young people, parents and practitioners regarding the journey of the Scottish Adoption Therapy Centre. Commissioned by Scottish Adoption.
- 23-Jan-2020 - 19-Jan-2020
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Contact
Dr
Emma
Young
Research And Evaluation Associate
Centre for Excellence for Children's Care and Protection
Email: emma.young@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 0141 950 3683