Lise Milne, MSW, PhD

Contact Info

Lise’s research interests include perinatal prevention programming, the neurobiological impacts of trauma on children and adolescents; resilience-, trauma-, and violence-informed practices within child welfare organizations; supporting group care workers; responses to children exposed to intimate partner violence; and knowledge mobilization.

Lise Milne is an Associate Professor at the University of Regina in the Faculty of Social Work (Saskatoon Campus), and has the honour of being the Child Trauma Research Centre Chair in Prevention and Intervention Approaches Supporting Child and Youth Health and Well-being (2022-25) (www.childtraumaresearch.ca).

Informed by 15 years of child welfare practice and a decade at the McGill Centre for Research on Children and Families, her current research relates to:

• trauma experiences and outcomes for children and youth
• interrupting the inter-generational cycle of trauma, through perinatal prevention programming for individuals who experienced childhood adversity
• resilience-, trauma-, and violence-informed practices in child-serving organizations, including supports needed for group care staff to provide trauma-informed care and to enhance their own well-being
• practice and policy responses to intimate partner violence
• the neurobiological impacts of trauma, through certification in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics™ (Child Trauma Academy)
• knowledge mobilization (childtraumaresearch.ca)

Lise is thrilled to be developing a physical and digital lab to be housed at the Child Trauma Research Centre - The Child and Youth Trauma Research Incubator (ThRIve). Led by McGill University’s Dr. Delphine Collin-Vézina, the lab is part of a pan-Canadian network to create a conducive environment for collaborative, community-based research on complex trauma to be nurtured and amplified at the institutional level.

Lise has taught since 2013 at graduate and undergraduate levels at the University of Regina, McGill University, and Concordia University. Her teaching areas include Advanced Practice with Children and Youth, Child Welfare, Quantitative Research Methods, Ethics, Critical Issues/Critical Thought, Youth Justice, and Student Practicum. She is a Faculty Associate at the Social Work Research Centre and the McGill Centre for Research on Children and Families. Within the greater community, she is a Board member for the Saskatoon Sexual Assault and Information Centre and served terms as a Steering Committee and Provincial Academic representative for Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse (RESOLVE Saskatchewan and RESOLVE Regional Council). She has engaged in child welfare data work with the Public Health Agency of Canada. Lise is on sabbatical leave until July 2025.

Research

Funded Research Chair 

2022-2025 / $300,000

University of Regina Child Trauma Research Centre (CTRC) Research Chair: Intervention and Prevention Approaches Supporting Child and Youth Health and Well-Being. Assist the CTRC in supporting children and youth through healing-oriented prevention and intervention initiatives in the province of Saskatchewan, as well as contributing to the growth of the CTRC, through community-based partnerships with cross-sectoral implications.

Research Projects/Grants

Co-Investigator

2025-26 / $100,000

CIHR Project Grant Priority Announcement: Population and Public Health Co-Creating Innovative Digital Knowledge Translation Tools for Parents to Prevent Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.

Principal Investigator (Co-)

2024-2026 / ~$149,308

SHRF/Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation Solutions Impact Grant – Child and Youth Health: Bolstering the impact of the Child Trauma Research Centre: Collaborative, community-driven approaches to translating child and youth well-being research on trauma-integrated practices for service providers in Saskatchewan. 

Co-Investigator

2023-2028 / $524,106 

Canadian Foundation for Innovation – Innovation Fund: The Child and Youth Trauma Research Incubator (ThRIve).

Principal Investigator (Co-)

2023-2026 / $10,000

Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation: Win with Wellness Mental Health Program Evaluation.

Principal Investigator

2022-25 / $119,958

SHRF Establishment Grant: Exploring the optimal conditions for implementing a trauma-focused prenatal group program in Saskatchewan: Interrupting the intergenerational cycle of trauma.

Co-Investigator

2022-28 / $2,390,000

CIHR Training Grant: Alliance against Violence and Adversity (AVA): Health and Social Services Research Training Platform for System and Population Transformations in Girls’ and Women’s Health.

Co-Investigator

2020-27 / $2,500,000

SSHRC Partnership Grant: Canadian Consortium on Child and Youth Trauma (CCCYT).

Principal Investigator

2020-22 / $54,452

SSHRC Insight Development Grant: Supporting workers to build resilience in trauma-impacted children: A Saskatchewan pilot study in a residential program.

Principal Investigator

2020-22 / $21,466

SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant: Foundation-building for a trauma-informed approach to improving the well-being of adolescents and workers in group care contexts.

Principal Investigator

2022 / $20,000

Mitacs Globalink Research Internship: Promoting long-term health and resilience of infants and their caregivers: Applying neuroscience to interventions that optimize pre- and postnatal brain development.

Co-Investigator

2021-22 / $7,500

SHRF Research Connections Grant: Drawing together neuroscience and Play, Art, and Narrative (PAN): Co-creating a resilience-enhancement toolkit for children in vulnerable contexts.

Principal Investigator (Co-)

2020-21 / $47,342

CIHR Knowledge Synthesis Grant: COVID-19 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity in Mental Health and Substance Use: Translating knowledge for child welfare organizations across the Canadian Prairies: Managing the impacts of COVID-19 on the mental health of children, families, and workers.

Principal Investigator (Co-)

2020-21 / $10,000

Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation Research Connections COVID-19 Rapid Response Program: Creating a Digital Connections Hub to support children in care in Saskatchewan during COVID-19 and beyond.

Co-Investigator

2020-22 / $74,935

SSHRC Insight Development Grant: Stories to tell: A pilot podcast project for youth with lived experience of crystal meth use in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Co-Investigator

2017-23 / $155,193

SSHRC Insight Grant: In search of promising approaches: Canadian Child Protection Services responses to cases of intimate partner violence (IPV). Led Saskatchewan component of this national study.

Principal Investigator (2 grants)

2019-21 / $9,675

1-SSHRC/University of Regina President’s Fund Research Seed Grant ($4,975)

2-McGill Centre for Research on Children and Families RBC Training Fellowship ($4,700): Determining the supports needed for group home workers to provide trauma-informed care to children and adolescents.

Principal Investigator

2019-21 / $5,000

McGill Centre for Research on Children and Families Seed Grant: Implementing and testing the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics in a group care facility.

Principal Investigator (Co-)

2018-20 / $8,000

University of Regina - Distributed Distance Learning: Evaluating learning for Social Work and Justice Studies practicum seminars.

Co-Investigator

2019-20 / $50,000

SSHRC Connection Grant: A one-year series of outreach activities on childhood complex trauma: Developing a cohesive intersectoral approach to trauma-informed child and youth services.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Ratushniak, A., Milne, L., Nixon, K., & Rosas-Jiménez, C. (Submitted, 2025). Sarah’s story: A Canadian narrative case study and systems map of the complex barriers intimate partner violence victim-survivors and their children must navigate. Child Protection & Practice.

Milne, L., Stoddard, L., & Ratushniak, A. (Submitted, 2024). Exploring the optimal conditions for implementing a Canadian trauma-focused prenatal group program: Interrupting the intergenerational cycle of trauma. Societies Special Issue: “Building the Evidence Base for Innovative and Contextually Sensitive Programs to Prevent and Treat Child Abuse and Neglect and Reduce Child Welfare Involvement”

Milne, L., Ratushniak, A., & Nguyen, H. (2024). How adverse childhood experiences impact the professional quality of life of residential care workers: Resilience as a mediator for burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction. Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 3, 1-13.

https://doi.org/10.3389/frcha.2024.1423451

Milne, L., Collin-Vézina, D., & Wekerle, C. (2021). Diverse trauma profiles of youth in group care settings: A cluster analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect, 120, 105221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105221

Akesson, B., Milne, L., Canavera, M., Meyer, E., & Reinke, C. (2021). Changing public perceptions and supporting improved working conditions for the social service workforce: Expert perspectives from a global Delphi study. International Journal of Social Welfare. https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/DXDXA8AAWZ2Y9YUEBKAF/full?target=10.1080/01488376.2021.1926399

Collin-Vézina D. & Milne, L. (2019). Child sexual abuse: An overview. MacMillan, H. (topic ed.). In: Tremblay, R. E., Boivin, M., Peters, R. DeV., (eds.). Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development and Strategic Knowledge Cluster on Early Child Development. https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/maltreatment-child/according-experts/child-sexual-abuse-overview

Milne, L. & Collin-Vézina, D. (2018). Évaluation des traumas. In T. Milot, D. Collin-Vézina, & N. Godbout, Le trauma complexe: Comprendre, évaluer et intervenir. Collection D’enfance (R. Tessier, G.M. Tarabulsy, J.-P. Lemelin, Eds.). Presses de l’Université du Québec.

Collin-Vézina, D., DeSablonnière-Griffin, M., Palmer, A., & Milne, L. (2015). A Preliminary mapping of individual, relational, and social factors that impede disclosure of childhood sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 43, 123-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.03.010

Milne, L. & Collin-Vézina, D. (2015). Assessment of children and youth in child protective services out-of-home care: An overview of trauma measures. Psychology of Violence, 5, 122-132. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037865

Milne, L., & Collin-Vézina D. (2014). Sexual abuse disclosure among youth in residential treatment care: A multi-informant comparison. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 23, 398-417. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2014.896841

Collin-Vézina, D. & Milne, L. (2014). Adolescents en centre de réadaptation: Évaluation du trauma. Criminologie, 47, 213-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105221 *Jury special mention for contribution to services for adolescents.

Trocmé, N., Milne, L., Esposito, T., Laurendeau, C., & Gervais, M.-J. (2014). Supporting evidence- based management in child welfare: A Canadian university-agency collaboration. In A. Shlonsky & R. Benbenishty (Eds.) From Evidence to Outcomes in Child Welfare: An International Reader. Oxford University Press, 171-188.

Milot, T., Collin-Vézina, D. & Milne, L. (2013). Coup d’œil sur les traumatismes complexes. http://observatoiremaltraitance.ca/Pages/Coup_d'oeil_sur_le_traumatisme_complexe.aspx

Collin-Vézina D. & Milne, L. (2012). Child sexual abuse: An overview. MacMillan, H. (topic ed.). In: Tremblay, R. E., Boivin, M., Peters, R. DeV., (eds.). Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development and Strategic Knowledge Cluster on Early Child Development; 2012:1-6.

http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/activite-physique/according-experts/child-sexual-abuse-overview

Collin-Vézina, D., Coleman, K., Milne, L., Sell, J., & Daigneault, I. (2011). Trauma experiences, maltreatment-related impairments, and resilience among child welfare youth in residential care. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 9, 577-589. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-011-9323-8

Milne, L. & Trocmé, N. (2010). Premières leçons tirées de trois initiatives de mobilisation des connaissances.  Association des Centres Jeunesse de Montreal. D. Lafortune, M. Cousineau & C. Tremblay (Eds.). Pratiques innovantes auprés des jeunes en difficulté. Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal.

Trocmé, N., Esposito, T. Laurendeau, C. Thomson, W., & Milne, L. (2009). Knowledge Mobilization in Child Welfare. Criminologie, 42, 33-59. https://doi.org/10.7202/029807ar