My role is Principal Social Worker/Head of Service for Practice at Telford & Wrekin Council Children's Service. I am also National Chair of the Children's Principal Social Workers Network and Chair of the Regional West Midlands Children's PSW Network.
Leading from the heart
I provide strategic leadership grounded in, love, care and connection, promoting a culture that understands how traumatic experiences can shape the way people relate to support, using relational authority to make decisions that place children at the centre, honouring people, biological and chosen, who matter to them. Leading from the heart I hold high expectations and aspirations for children and families.
Co‑production is essential to influencing individual, strategic and systemic change. I viewed the statutory kinship care guidance as an opportunity to take a reflective, system wide view of how we support kinship connections.
Building a local offer rooted in families' experiences
At Telford & Wrekin, we developed a kinship care local offer designed to be effective, responsive, and available at the earliest point possible for children and families. This was tested and shaped by the families it serves rather than imposed upon them. Our aim was to strengthen family networks so children remain safely connected to the people who matter most to them.
Putting voices at the centre
Meaningful co-production has been central. Kinship carers and young people sat on our operational board as equal decision-makers, with accountability and genuine influence over the offer's development. Alongside this we created spaces with no agenda where carers and children could share their journeys safely. This choice enabled deeper listening, trust‑building and a more honest understanding of what support needs to feel like in everyday practice.
Equally important has been our commitment to culturally responsive practice. We recognise that kinship care is experienced differently across families and communities, shaped by culture, identity and family structure. Through co‑production, we have continued to listen carefully to carers and young people from diverse backgrounds, using their lived experience to inform how support is designed and delivered. This has helped us challenge assumptions, strengthen trust and ensure the local offer is accessible, relevant and responsive to the families it serves.
The local offer now includes dedicated therapeutic support, peer advocacy, and clearer pathways to help. These are all designed around what families told us they actually needed, rather than what we assumed.
What we are seeing and what we hope for
The impact is already visible, more kinship carers are accessing support, with strong feedback on the difference the therapeutic offer has made to family stability and wellbeing. Forums led by young people with lived experience have strengthened peer connection and voice. A consistent theme from practice is that when families feel trusted, listened to and supported early, outcomes for children improve.
This local learning sits firmly within the wider children’s social care reform direction, increasingly reflecting what we know makes the greatest difference: early, relational and responsive support grounded in families lived experiences. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act represents a welcome shift in emphasis; recognising that family networks should complement professional support and, where it is safe to do so should be preserved and placed at the centre of decision‑making. Strengthening duties in relation to family group decision making and Kinship support can aid greater consistency and confidence for local delivery.
My hope for the future is that families continue to feel a real difference in the help they receive, with lived experiences shaping a system where all voices are heard, respected and valued, to co‑create change. Above all, I hope children remain safely connected to people important to them, sustaining relationships that support identity, love and belonging throughout their lives.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 is part of the biggest overhaul to children’s social care in a generation - to ensure opportunity for all children, and help shift the focus to earlier support for children and families. Kinship carers play a key part in making sure children who can’t stay at home are in a safe, loving and familiar environment. The Act includes a duty on local authorities to publish a kinship local offer, to ensure that kinship families are aware of and can access the support they need.
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