The ICCR boasts two very significant, and internationally recognised, longitudinal studies of relevance to policy-makers and practitioners.

The Care Pathways and Outcomes Study, and the Belfast Youth Development Study provide unique information about looked after children in Northern Ireland, and youth development, offering the capacity to answer important policy questions, and offering scope for collaborative endeavour and methodological innovation.

The Care Pathways and Outcomes Study is a longitudinal prospective study that, for the last 10 years, has been tracking the placements, and examining a range of coping indicators, for a population of children (n=374) who were in care under the age of five in Northern Ireland on the 31st March 2000. The main objective of the study is to inform policy and practice on how best to meet the long-term needs of children in care, by comparing how children get on across the range of long-term placements available. Data collection for phase 3 of the study was completed in January 2010, and the findings have been published in book format with the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) in May 2013.

The Belfast Youth Development Study (BYDS) is a longitudinal study of young people’s lives and experiences which was funded by the HSC R&D, Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland. BYDS is unique in that it is the largest study of its kind ever undertaken in the UK or Ireland. The aim of the study was to investigate the risk and protective factors associated with different types of behavioural patterns and outcomes in adolescence and emerging adulthood. BYDS has followed a cohort of approximately 4,000 young people from 2001 to 2011. Participants were from schools in Belfast, Ballymena, Downpatrick and were aged 11-12 years upon entry to the study. Adolescents completed the survey on six occasions on a yearly basis from 2001-2005 and again in 2007. The seventh sweep of data was collected in 2010-2011 when cohort members were 21-22 years old.