I'm working on my new project, the child safeguarding decision lab, building tools to improve decision making and develop expertise at all levels in UK statutory child protection settings.

Part time role as part of the development team for the new WWC for Children's Social Care.

Designing and delivering a 12 month project, building direct practice skills across 20 teams at Lambeth Children's Services.

Senior social worker for Children Looked After. I hold case responsibility for 12-14 children and young people who are in the care of Lambeth Council, either under s.20, or subject to Family Court proceedings. I manage cases through Court proceedings, Child Looked After Review processes, and Child Protection investigations where necessary. I sit on the Practice Advisory Group, and meet monthly with the Divisional Director to discuss practice development. I have developed a practice manual which is at the heart of Lambeth's response to the Munro Review.

My role in this post was be a champion within the service area for systemic thinking and for evidence-based practice. I introduced a range of systemic strategies and resources for social workers to use to effectively engage clients. I operationalized several proven, cost effective improvements to front line social work practice, and built on other good practice methods across front line CIST and Localities social work teams. I worked with Advanced Practitioners in the locality teams around benchmarking and spreading good practice.

I managed a newly set up service in Brent tasked with delivering a Family Intervention Project (FIP) as per the (former) DCSF guidelines. I led a team of five project staff, one business support, and one adult mental health consultant. The FIP is funded through central government and other partner agencies to work intensively with the most challenging families within the borough, to reduce antisocial and criminal behaviour. Work is intensive, involves clear sanctions for the families, and can last up to two years. The families are similar too those families who have children under child protection plans repeatedly.I recruited staff, set up referral and assessment processes, and worked intensively with partner agencies. I provide intensive case supervision to five project staff. I was accountable to a steering committee and to partner agencies (social landlords, antisocial behaviour teams, adult mental health services, and Police) for the performance of my team.I was also brought in to the Early Intervention Service, to redefine the workflow for their schools-based CAF Team. I chaired a ‘Change Panel’ for two months, the outcome of which was a CAF process that was deliverable within 5 days, where previously reports had been taking several months. This involved motivating staff who were reluctant to acknowledge the need for change.

I managed a small, multidisciplinary team tasked with preventing young people from entering the care system by providing intensive family support, whilst also fulfilling all statutory duties under the Childrens Act. This was under the 'Hackney Model' of a unit of social work and clinical staff working together on each case while the Consultant Social Worker holds case responsibility. My unit and the Rapid Response Service were one of the first to implement the 'Reclaiming Social Work' model. I was one of three senior staff who set up the Rapid Response service, including generating policy and referral criteria, liaising with other services areas and professionals in introducing the service, and recruiting and supervising staff. The Rapid Response Service was recognised as a key element in the early success of the Hackney model.