Dr. Bernadine Brady

Bernadine Brady has been employed by the Child and Family Research Centre since 2003. She is currently lead researcher on evaluations of the Foroige youth citizenship programme and the Big Brothers Big Sisters Programme in Ireland and has previously undertaken studies in relation to children’s participation, family welfare conferencing and young carers in the CFRC. Bernadine lectures on the MA in Family Support Studies, MA in Social Work and MA in Community Development and undergraduate programmes. Her recent publications and conference presentations have been in the areas of evaluation, youth mentoring, family welfare conferencing, children’s participation and good practice in child and family services.

Bernadine holds a Bachelor of Social Science Degree from UCD, an MA in Community Development from NUI, Galway and a PhD from NUI Galway. Prior to joining the CFRC, her work experience included research, evaluation, community development work and strategic planning in a range of local development settings.

Ph.D. awarded, 17th Dec 2010

Thesis title: An Assessment of the Viability and Value of Youth Mentoring as a Policy Option in an Irish Context.

Selected Publications

Dolan, P. and Brady, B. (2011) A Guide to Youth Mentoring; Providing Effective Social Support. London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Putti, M. and Brady, B. (2011) From Tea and Sympathy to Optimal Matching of Need: Developing a Shared Vision for a Community Based Family Support Service. Child Care in Practice, Vol. 17, Issue 3, pp.271-284.

Moran, M. and Brady, B. (2010) Improving Self-efficacy?: Reflections on the Use of Life Coaching Techniques among Family Support Service Users. Practice, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 269-280.

Brady, B. and O'Regan, C. (2009) Meeting the Challenge of Doing an RCT Evaluation of Youth Mentoring in Ireland: A Journey in Mixed Methods. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 265-280.

Brady, B. and Dolan, P. (2009) Youth Mentoring as a Tool for Community and Civic Engagement: Reflections on Findings of an Irish Research Study. Community Development, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 359-366.

Dolan, P., Canavan, J. and Brady, B. (2008) Youth Mentoring and the Parent-Young Person Relationship: Considerations for Research and Practice. Youth & Policy, No. 99, pp. 33-42.

Brady, B. (2007) Developing Children's Participation: Lessons from a Participatory IT Project. Children and Society, Vol. 21, Issue 1, pp. 31-41.

Brady, B. and Dolan, P. (2007) Exploring Good Practice in Irish Child and Family Services: Reflections and Considerations. Practice, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 5-18.

Brady, B. and Dolan, P. (2007) Youth Mentoring in Ireland: Weighing up the Benefits and Challenges. Youth Studies Ireland, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 27-34.

Dolan, P., Canavan, J. and Brady, B. (2006) Connecting with Practice in the Changing Landscape of Family Support Training. Child Care in Practice, Vol.12, No.1, pp. 43-51.

Selected Reports

Dolan, P., Brady, B., O’Regan, C., Russell, D., Canavan, J., Forkan, C. (2011) Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ireland: Evaluation Study: Report One: Randomised Controlled Trial and Implementation Report. Galway: Child and Family Research Centre.

Dolan, P., Brady, B., O’Regan, C., Russell, D., Canavan, J., Forkan, C. (2011) Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ireland: Evaluation Study: Report Two: Qualitative Evidence. Galway: Child and Family Research Centre.

Fives, A., Kennan, D., Canavan, J., Brady, B. and Cairns, D. (2010) If I can make their life a little easier, then I'm happy: Study of Young Carers in the Irish Population. Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Dublin: The Stationary Office.

Brady, B. (2009) Barnardos Family Welfare Conference Project, South Tipperary: Evaluation Report. Galway: Child and Family Research Centre.

Brady, B., Dolan, P., Canavan, J. (2004) Working for Children and Families: Exploring Good Practice. Dublin: Department of Health and Children.

Brady, B. (2004) Understanding and Developing Children’s Participation: A Short Guide. Dublin: Barnardos.

Selected Conferences

Brady, B. (2011) Youth Mentoring and the Well-being of Young People: Evidence from an Irish Mixed-methods Evaluation. Children’s Well-Being: The Research and Policy Challenges, Third International Conference of the International Society for Child Indicators, University of York, 27th-29th July 2011.

Brady, B. (2011) Social Capital and Civic Engagement in Irish Youth Services. Public lecture, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, 13th March 2011.

Brady, B. (2010) Policy Transfer in Youth Work: Learning from Big Brothers Big Sisters. Meeting Youth Needs in the 21st Century, International Conference, University College Cork, 12th May 2010.

Brady B. and O’Regan, C. (2008) Squaring the Circle or Circling the Square?: The Challenges of Integrating Impact and Meaning in Conducting a Randomised Control Trial Using a Mixed Methods Design. 4th Mixed Methods Conference, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, July 2008.