Louise has jointly run the Social Research Unit with Michael Little since 2010, although she first joined the Social Research Unit in 1997 to study for her PhD. She oversees the day-to-day running of the charity. She has a particular interest in advocating for the greater use of evidence-based programmes, practices, processes and policies in children’s services and has worked at the interface of research, policy and practice throughout her career. Louise led the groundbreaking work with Birmingham City Council to develop, implement and evaluate a £42 million invest-to-save strategy. She is currently working with a handful of local authorities trialing the use of evidence-based programmes as alternatives to care. She is also leading the replication of the US model ‘Evidence2Success’ in Scotland.