I support a range of governments, NGOs and UNICEF country offices to develop high quality systems and services for child protection and alternative care of children, with a particular focus on adapting models of formal family-based care (foster care and kinship care) to different needs, and specific social and cultural contexts, and on strengthening the social service workforce (SSW) which underpins this work. I have been working both as an independent consultant, and with consultancy teams led by Oxford Policy Management, Maestral International and Child Frontiers. Most recent projects include:- Strengthening SSW and alternative care in Malaysia, Child Frontiers for UNICEF (2020-2022).- Documentation of the alternative care system in Turkey, OPM for UNICEF (May - Sept, 2020)- Technical support on family reintegration from institutions, for UNICEF Azerbaijan (Jan – Jun 2020)- Led training for SSW linked to 'cash plus' social assistance, OPM for UNICEF Kazakhstan (2019/20). - National vision and action plan for strengthening SSW, for UNICEF Kyrgyzstan (July – Dec 2019). - Strengthening the National Foster Care System, Maestral for UNICEF Turkey (May – Nov 2019).- Consultancy on child protection system reform, for Paraguay Protects Families (June – Dec, 2019).- National Foster Care Guidelines and ToT, Maestral for 4Children, CRS, Uganda (2019).- Practice Guide on Foster Care in Islamic Contexts for Family for Every Child (2019).- Capitalisation of foster care systems, Maestral for UNICEF Morocco (Oct 2018 – June 2019) - C4D approaches in SSW strengthening, OPM for UNICEF Europe & Central Asia region (2018/19)

Leading the team responsible for the design, development, delivery and continuous improvement of Family for Every Child's activities and global alliance programme. We enable and enliven the alliance as a forum for knowledge exchange and ideas generation, strengthening and combining the expertise of our members as social agents for change.

Working in the secretariat of Family for Every Child, a global alliance of local CSOs, I lead the team that supports our members in their joint work on advocacy, research and the development of policy and practice. I am also responsible for facilitating the wider participation of members, including sharing knowledge and learning, and welcoming and introducing new members to the wider network. I am a qualified, experienced Social Worker, who has worked for 20 years in a wide range of countries to provide and manage technical support for partners providing child protection, family support and alternative care services for children.

Managing Child Contact, Family Support and Parenting and Family Group Conference Services

South London charity providing family support, social work, contact services and family group conferences.