Keith Clements is a children’s health and social care policy expert and social researcher. Keith joined the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) in 2009 after completing a Masters in Political Thought at Cardiff University and internships in Parliament and other national charities. He led NCB’s policy influencing activity in relation to health, social care and services for disabled young people before joining the charity’s Research team in 2016. Since then Keith has led a number of high impact projects such capturing the learning from ‘early adopters’ of Multi Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (2019) and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Children’s inquiries into social care (2017, 2018) which were cited by the recent Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. From 2018-2022 he delivered an evaluation of four voluntary sector initiatives to support care leavers with insecure immigration status, with a particular focus on collaboration with local authorities. Keith oversees NCB’s Families Research Advisory Group – a forum for parents to inform research design and messaging – alongside wider work to involve policy and practice stakeholders and people with lived experience in social care research.
You can find out more about NCB’s work here:
Research interests
- Qualitative evaluation of partnership working between statutory and voluntary sector agencies to address children and young people’s needs
- Implementation of children’s social care policy in England including thresholds for safeguarding intervention
- Strategic planning of care for children with additional needs including those who are looked after by a local authority, are disabled or are unaccompanied asylum-seekers
- Participatory research methods including involving children and parents in design and dissemination of research
Publications
Clements, K., Munro, G., Berry, A., Davis, L., Lyons, F. and Nugent, R. (2022) Supporting care leavers with insecure immigration status: Learning on effective support, collaboration and empowerment. London: National Children’s Bureau and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. (forthcoming)
Munro, G. and Clements, K (2020) The Challenges Facing Local Authorities in Supporting Children and Families. In: Bonner, A (2020) Local Authorities and the Social Determinants of Health. Policy Press-Bristol University Press
Clements, K (2019) Safeguarding Early Adopters Developing the Learning on Multi-agency Safeguarding Arrangements. London: National Children’s Bureau
Clements, K. (2018) An analysis of Local Safeguarding Children Boards’ threshold documents: Summary of research carried out on behalf of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Children. London: National Children’s Bureau.
Clements, K., Ellison, R., Hutchinson, D., Moss, D., and Renton, Z. (2017). No Good Options: Report of the Inquiry into Children’s Social Care in England. London: National Children’s Bureau/All Party Parliamentary Group for Children.