معرفی
Melissa Meindl is a Researcher at Cardiff University's School of Social Sciences, affiliated with the Centre for Adult Social Care Research (CARE). Her work focuses on mixed-methods evaluations of social care interventions, including school-based social work programs and family drug/alcohol courts. She holds a B.Sc. in Psychological Science from La Trobe University (Australia) and has been recognized for academic excellence with three Dean's Honours awards (2011–2013).
Her research interests span social work decision-making, forecasting accuracy in child protection, and cost-effectiveness evaluations. Current projects include evaluating the Family Drug and Alcohol Court in Wales and Family Group Conferencing for Children and Families. She collaborates with organizations like CASCADE and the What Works Centre for Children's Social Care.
Key contributions include randomized controlled trials of social workers in schools and studies on mitigating cognitive biases in social work judgments. Her work bridges neuroscience insights with practical social care policy, emphasizing evidence-based approaches to improve outcomes for vulnerable families.
Awards: Three Dean's Honours List recognitions for academic excellence (La Trobe University, 2011–2013).
Professional activities include leading evaluations of devolved budgets in children’s social care and analyzing family group conference provision across the UK. She publishes in journals like Research on Social Work Practice and Child & Family Social Work.
