In Conversation: Exploring International perspectives of Out-of-Home Care, with Professor Lisa Holmes (UK)

Now hybrid! If you were unable to attend in person, we’ve now made this available to attend online! Register below

Victoria has long been a leader in residential care reform and evidence-informed practice. This session offers an opportunity to explore how shared challenges are being approached internationally. For those working in out-of-home care in Victoria, this conversation brings a valuable outside-in perspective — a chance to connect local expertise with international insights.

OPEN, an initiative of The Centre, is proud to launch our International Speaker Series on all things Out of Home Care, with a special in-person conversation featuring Professor Lisa Holmes, Director of Research at the University of Sussex and founder of both the International Work Group for Therapeutic Residential Care and the Children’s Social Care Data User Group.

This session will bring together sector leaders and practitioners to explore global perspectives on improving outcomes for children in out-of-home care. Drawing on her latest research from the UK, Prof. Holmes will lead a conversation on building evidence, valuing relationships, and using data to shape more effective and meaningful care systems.

Key topics will include:

• Rethinking the use of residential care in child welfare: beyond binary comparisons with family-based care.
• Promoting relational stability: mechanisms for maintaining meaningful relationships for children in care.
• Defining and measuring value: how do we understand and assess value for money in out-of-home care?

This is a unique opportunity to engage with international insights and contribute to a forward-looking conversation about care, evidence, and impact. The session will provide a lovely break to get off our screens and have a deeper conversation in person – don’t miss out.

Who should attend?
Practitioners, policy-makers, and leaders in out-of-home care.

Speaker: Prof. Lisa Holmes

Lisa joined the University of Sussex in 2022 as Professor in Applied Social Science. Lisa started her academic career in 2000, as a research assistant, based in the Centre for Child and Family Research at Loughborough University. Between 2013 and 2017 she was the Director of the research centre and led a large portfolio of research and evaluation projects focused on children’s social care. Lisa then led the Rees Centre at the University of Oxford between 2017 and 2022.

Lisa has published a range of books, journal articles and project evaluation reports. Along with her colleagues, Professor James Whittaker and Professor Jorge F del Valle, Lisa is co-chair of the International Work Group for Therapeutic Residential Care. In late 2017, along with colleagues at UCL and the University of Oxford, Lisa established the Children’s Social Care Data User Group (https://cscdug.co.uk/). The group provides a forum to share expertise and learning between all users and potential users (academic, practice and policy) of children’s social care data.

Lisa first started her career in children’s social care as an outreach worker in the early 1990s, followed by three years working as a residential social worker in a local authority children’s home in England.