Mr David Westlake

2025

• Forrester, D. and Westlake, D. 2025. Motivational interviewing in Islington: our first, worst, and most eye-opening trial. In: Sanders, M. , Westlake, D. and Hirneis, V. eds. Experimental Methods and Children's Social Care: The Contribution of Randomised Controlled Trials. Sociology, Social Policy and Education 2025 Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. , pp.86-97. (10.4337/9781035327157.00016)
• Mathur, V. et al. 2025. Basic income for care leavers in Wales pilot evaluation: second annual report, 2024 to 2025. Project Report.[Online].Cardiff: Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/statistics-and-research/2025-03/basic-income-for-care-leavers-in-wales-pilot-evaluation-second-annual-report-2024-to-2025_0.pdf.
• Roberts, L. et al. 2025. Innovative and ambitious or unrealistic and risky? Initial professional perspectives on the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot. The British Journal of Social Work bcaf124. (10.1093/bjsw/bcaf124)
• Schroeder, E. et al., 2025. Economic evaluation of a school-based social worker intervention (SWIS) [Abstract]. Presented at: 2nd North American Conference on Integrated Care Calgary, Canada 15-17 October 2024. Vol. 25.Vol. 060. (10.5334/ijic.NACIC24060)
• Westlake, D. 2025. ‘That's all very well, but if a child is at risk, you can stick your randomisation up your ****’: a brief history of trials in social work and UK children's social care. In: Sanders, M. , Westlake, D. and Hirneis, V. eds. Experimental Methods and Children's Social Care The Contribution of Randomised Controlled Trials. Sociology, Social Policy and Education 2025 Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. , pp.6-20. (10.4337/9781035327157.00009)
• Westlake, D. and Bennett, V. 2025. Go big or go home: trialling the Social Workers in Schools programme during a pandemic. In: Westlake, D. , Sanders, M. and Hirneis, V. eds. Experimental Methods and Children's Social Care: The Contribution of Randomised Controlled Trials. Sociology, Social Policy and Education 2025 Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. , pp.107-120. (10.4337/9781035327157.00018)
• Westlake, D. et al. 2025. A Cluster randomised controlled trial of social workers in schools in England. Research on Social Work Practice (10.1177/10497315251338227)
• Westlake, D. , Sanders, M. and Hirneis, V. 2025. Looking to the future – concluding thoughts. In: Sanders, M. , Westlake, D. and Hirneis, V. eds. Experimental Methods and Children's Social Care: The Contribution of Randomised Controlled Trials. Sociology, Social Policy and Education 2025 Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. , pp.200-205. (10.4337/9781035327157.00024)

2024

• Bennett, V. et al. 2024. Student perspectives on school-based social workers: A mixed-methods study. Journal of Children's Services 19 (3), pp.189-221. (10.1108/JCS-04-2023-0021)
• Holland, S. et al. 2024. Basic income for care leavers in Wales pilot evaluation: annual report, 2023 to 2024.
• Meindl, M. and Westlake, D. 2024. Evaluation of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court in Wales pilot: Final Report. Project Report.Cardiff: CASCADE.
• Powell, S. et al. 2024. Understanding how and under what circumstances parental advocates support parents to participate in decision-making: a scoping review. Child Care in Practice 30 (4), pp.517-536. (10.1080/13575279.2024.2354823)
• Sanders, M. et al., 2024. Pilot trial protocol: Police in corridors.
• Schroeder, E. et al., 2024. The cost-effectiveness and cost-consequences of a school-based social worker intervention: a within-trial economic evaluation. [Online].SSRN. (10.2139/ssrn.4776734)
• Schroeder, E. et al., 2024. The cost-effectiveness and cost-consequences of a school-based social worker intervention: a within-trial economic evaluation. Children and Youth Services Review 166 107928. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107928)
• Westlake, D. and Daly, A. 2024. Editorial: Journal of Children's Services Special Edition: the intersection of education and formal and community-based children's services. Journal of Children's Services 19 (3), pp.137-141. (10.1108/JCS-09-2024-088)
• Westlake, D. et al. 2024. The basic income for care leavers in Wales pilot evaluation: Protocol of a quasi-experimental evaluation. PLoS ONE 19 (10) e0303837. (10.1371/journal.pone.0303837)
• Westlake, D. et al. 2024. Social workers in schools: A feasibility study of three local authorities. Journal of Social Work 24 (5), pp.607-626. (10.1177/14680173241258927)

2023

• Adara, L. et al. 2023. The Social Workers in Schools Trial: An evaluation of school based social work.. Project Report.Early Intervention Foundation.
• Devine, R. et al., 2023. Peer parental advocacy: A narrative review of the literature. Journal of Children's Services 18 (3/4), pp.244-260. (10.1108/JCS-08-2022-0020)
• Diaz, C. et al. 2023. The perceived impact of peer parental advocacy on child protection practice: a mixed-methods evaluation. Project Report.[Online].What Works for Early Intervention and Children’s Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/The-perceived-impact-of-peer-parental-advocacy-on-child-protection-practice_FINAL-with-cover_16-Jan.pdf.
• Fitz-Symonds, S. et al. 2023. Mechanisms for support: A realist evaluation of peer parental advocacy in England. The British Journal of Social Work (10.1093/bjsw/bcad200)

2022

• Meindl, M. , Hosch, M. and Westlake, D. 2022. An evaluation of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court in Wales pilot: Interim report. Project Report.[Online].Cardiff University. Available at: https://cascadewales.org/research/evaluation-of-the-family-drug-and-alcohol-court-in-wales-pilot/.
• Westlake, D. et al. 2022. Devolved budgets in Children’s Social Care: A logic model based on three pilot evaluations. British Journal of Social Work 52 (7), pp.3999-4020. (10.1093/bjsw/bcac019)
• Westlake, D. et al. 2022. Evaluating a school-based intervention through routine local authority data and national school data: challenges and opportunities. Presented at: International Population Data Linkage Conference 2022 7 - 9 September 2022. Vol. 7.Vol. 3. (10.23889/ijpds.v7i3.1886)
• Westlake, D. et al. 2022. The SWIS trial: protocol of a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial of school based social work. PLoS ONE 17 (6) e0265354.. (10.1371/journal.pone.0265354)

2021

• Diaz, C. , Westlake, D. and Evans, L. 2021. The perceived impact of peer parental advocacy on child protection practice: a pilot evaluation.
• Jones, R. K. and Westlake, D. 2021. Independent visiting with children in care during the pandemic: disruptions and discoveries. Qualitative Social Work 20 (1-2), pp.383-389. (10.1177/1473325020981087)

2020

• Forrester, D. et al. 2020. Patterns of practice: an exploratory factor analysis of child and family social worker skills. Child and Family Social Work 25 (1), pp.108-117. (10.1111/cfs.12664)
• Westlake, D. 2020. Direct observation in practice: co-developing an evidence-informed practice tool to assess social work communication. Journal of Children's Services 15 (3), pp.123-140. (10.1108/JCS-08-2019-0043)
• Westlake, D. et al. 2020. Devolved budgets: an evaluation of pilots in three local authorities in England. Project Report.[Online].London: What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_Devolved_Budgets_Full_Report_March_2020_FINAL.pdf.
• Westlake, D. et al. 2020. Social workers in schools: an evaluation of pilots in three local authorities in England. Project Report.[Online].London: What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_Social-Workers-in-Schools_pilot-study_full-report_May-2020.pdf.

2019

• Forrester, D. et al. 2019. What is the relationship between worker skills and outcomes for families in child and family social work?. British Journal of Social Work 49 (8), pp.2148-2167. (10.1093/bjsw/bcy126)

2018

• Forrester, D. et al. 2018. A randomized controlled trial of training in motivational Interviewing for child protection. Children and Youth Services Review 88 , pp.180-190. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.02.014)
• Westlake, D. et al. 2018. Safely reducing the need for children to enter care: telephone interviews with local authorities in England. Project Report.[Online].London: What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Reducing_the_number_of_children_in_statutory_care_telephone_interviews_with_local_authorities.pdf.
• Wilkins, D. , Jones, R. and Westlake, D. 2018. 'The activity does not archive well': Comparing audio and written records of supervision case discussions in Children's Services. Journal of Children's Services 13 (3/4), pp.93-109. (10.1108/JCS-03-2018-0005)
• Wilkins, D. , Jones, R. and Westlake, D. 2018. The activity does not archive well: comparing audio and written records of supervision case discussions in Children’s Services. Journal of Children's Services 13 (3/4), pp.93-109. (10.1108/jcs-03-2018-0005)

2017

• Killian, M. et al., 2017. Validity of the Working Alliance Inventory within child protection services. Research on Social Work Practice 27 (6), pp.704-715. (10.1177/1049731515596816)
• Westlake, D. and Jones, R. K. 2017. Breaking down language barriers: a practice-near study of social work using interpreters. The British Journal of Social Work 48 (5), pp.1388–1408,. (10.1093/bjsw/bcx073)