Over the last twenty years Bob has undertaken and published research about young people leaving care, foster care, kinship care and grandparenting.

He was previously Director of the Children and Families Research Centre at De Montfort University Leicester and Director of the Research and Evaluation Department at the National Children’s Bureau, London. Prior to becoming a specialist researcher in 1990 he was a Lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science and before that a probation officer and teacher in London.

Current and recent research studies include those for Save the Children Fund, the Fostering Network, the Adolescent and Children’s Trust (TACT), and the Grandparents Association.