Paula Beesty
Brighton,East Sussex
Summary
Children and families team manager with 20+ years of experience in local authority children’s services, including 13+ years in leadership and management roles. Leads early intervention adolescent services delivering relationship-based practice and evidence-based interventions for children and families with complex needs across safeguarding and risk pathways. Builds high-performing teams through training, reflective supervision, quality assurance, audits, and performance oversight. Prioritises child-centred, strengths-based practice aligned to Family First principles to reduce harm and prevent escalation to statutory services.
Overview
26
26
years of professional experience
Work History
Early Intervention Team Manager, Adolescent Service
Surrey County Council
Brighton, East Sussex
07.2014 - Current
- Lead 5 practitioners—4 Adolescent Practitioners, and Senior Adolescent Practitioner—each managing complex caseloads of 12–15 young people at Targeted and Intensive level of need.
- Provide four-weekly reflective case supervision and quarterly performance conversations, ensuring practice complies with service guidance, supporting professional development.
- Screen referrals, consultation with Safeguarding Managers. Social Workers and Practitioners, allocate work according to risk, need and practitioner expertise, and gatekeep Early Help assessments, Action Plans and Team Around the Family reviews.
- Management oversight of the Extra Familial Harm Pathway, Screening and Risk Assessment, attends Risk and Vulnerability Management Meetings, Referrals to National Referral Mechanism.
- Respond to Missing Episodes, supporting Adolescent Practitioners to complete Return Home Interviews.
- Initiate strategy meetings where immediate safeguarding concerns arise in line with Safeguarding Policies and Procedures.
- Support Practitioners to deliver intensive responses, 1-1. and Groupwork, Extra Familial Harm; criminal exploitation, child sexual exploitation; Knife crime risk awareness, Youth Violence awareness, understanding Joint Enterprise, Child Criminal Exploitation and Child Sex Exploitation awareness, Debt Bodange, Substance Use, Healthy Relationships, Online Safety and Coms Group Awareneness. Parents Groups to increase awareness of Exploitation and Risk outside the Home, The Dice Program and Ivison Trust, and Fearless.
- Chair locality Risk-Mapping Meetings with Police, Community Safety Team, Housing and Schools, and contribute to wider crime, anti-social behaviour and exploitation partnership forums, Joint Action Groups and Charmm.
- Work closely with adolescent safeguarding and family safeguarding teams on escalation, consultation, and coordinated responses.
- Lead team-manager meetings, contribute to Service and Directorate meetings and quality-assurance activity, completing case audits and observations and reporting themes, development needs and strong practice to managers.
- Monitor performance through Liquid Logic Database Systems; EHM and Tableau and report team performance to the Assistant Director for the East Hub, Surrey County Council.
- Manage capability, disciplinary and performance-improvement processes, including investigations and formal reports.
- Management of Change, contributing to the development of Family First Partnership Program.
- Current role
Team Manager, Targeted Youth Support Service
Surrey County Council
01.2018 - 01.2024
- Lead 6 practitioners—4 Adolescent Practitioners, 1 Senior Adolescent Practitioner and 1 Social Worker —each managing complex caseloads of 12–15 young people at Targeted and Intensive level of need.
- Core tasks as above, role transitioned to Early Intervention Team Manager
- Out of Court Disposals; Youth Restorative interventions
- Contributed to Change Management process
Senior Youth Support Officer
Surrey County Council
01.2012 - 01.2018
- Managed Early Help, Child in Need and youth justice casework, including assessments, plans, reviews, Team Around the Family and Child in Need meetings.
- Completed Asset Plus assessments, risk-management plans and pre-sentence reports, and delivered interventions to reduce offending and support victims through restorative practice.
- Worked with young people and families to prevent homelessness, NEET outcomes and sexual exploitation, including family mediation, supported accommodation links and parenting programmes.
- ASD awareness Parenting Program co-ordination and delivery
- Supported staff supervision, appraisal, practice development, and quality assurance.
Victim Liaison Officer
Lambeth Council
Brixton, Lambeth
03.2014 - 07.2014
- Temporary contract
- Delivered Restorative Justice Interventions.
Housing Support Worker, Worthing Foyer
Viridian Housing Association
Worthing, West Sussex
10.2012 - 11.2013
- Temporary contract
- Managed referrals, assessments for young people aged 16–25 living in supported accommodation.
Youth Crime Prevention Practice Manager
Brighton & Hove City Council
08.2008 - 08.2012
- Managed youth crime prevention casework and quality-assured Common Assessment Framework and Onset assessments.
- Developed early-intervention and prevention strategies for young people at risk.
- Led and developed Youth Crime Prevention Workers and Intensive Personal Advisers through supervision, team meetings, and practice sessions.
- Oversaw projects in youth crime prevention, restorative justice, parenting and family work, youth work, Positive Futures and transitions into education, employment and training.
- Managed budgets and service-level agreements with voluntary youth centres.
- Left this role due to family illness.
Youth Justice Worker and Family Intervention Project Key Worker
Brighton & Hove City Council
03.2006 - 08.2008
- Completed assessments, intervention plans, reviews and pre-sentence reports, and supervised young people subject to court orders.
- Delivered multi-agency planning, restorative justice, anti-social behaviour reduction, family support, Triple P and parenting-order work.
Co-ordinator
Bridge to Employment Youth Project
07.2001 - 03.2006
- Managed six staff across youth work, careers, training and sport to engage young people who were not in education, employment, or training.
- Turned a funded bid into an operational service, created monitoring systems, reported to funders, managed service-level agreements, and developed the future-funding strategy.
- Exceeded education, employment and training targets and secured a second round of funding.
Youth Support Worker
Brighton & Hove City Council
Brighton, East Sussex
09.2000 - 07.2001
- Designed and delivered school-based programmes to increase participation, self esteem and reduce bullying/
Education
BA (Hons) - Youth and Community Studies
Manchester Metropolitan University
01-1999
Skills
- Leadership of multi-disciplinary teams, including line management, reflective case supervision, appraisal, continual professional development and performance improvement
- Contextual safeguarding and adolescent risk: Criminal Exploitation, Child Sexual Exploitation, Youth Crime Prevention, Anti-Social Behaviour, Family Mediation and Preventing Homelessness 16/17yrs
- Screening, allocation, escalation and risk management across Early Help, Child in Need and specialist safeguarding pathways, Risk outside the Home
- Oversight of Missing Children, and Return Home Interviews, Extra Familial Harm Screening Safer Meetings and Safer Plans
- Multi-agency leadership with police, community safety, housing, schools and children's social care
- Quality assurance through audits, observations, practice meetings, peer supervision, and analysis of performance information
- Service development, budget management, funding bids, service-level agreements and reporting to senior leaders and funding bodies
- Evidence-based practice including Trauma Informed Practice, Compassion Focussed Therapy, Multi-Systemic Therapy, Restorative Practice, Family Group Decision Making, Mediation, Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and Triple P parenting programmes
- Safeguarding practice
- Risk assessment
- Case supervision
- Performance monitoring
- Multi-agency coordination
- Team leadership
- Coaching supervision
- Partnership working
- Case auditing
- Liquid Logic
- Early Help assessments
- Referral screening
- Strategy meetings
- Exploitation response
- Conflict resolution
- Leadership skills
- Mentoring and coaching
- Staff motivation
- HR policies and procedures
- Inspiring motivation
- Knowledge of HR policies
- Ethical conduct
- Diplomatic communication
- Organisational change
- Resilient mentality
- Data analytics
Additional Relevant Experience
- Project Worker, Southwell House Youth Project | August 1999–August 2000 — Delivered residential and school-outreach programmes.
- Team Leader, Prince's Trust Volunteer Summer, Groundwork | May 1998–September 1999 — Led programmes for young people aged 16–25 focused on teamwork, confidence, work experience, training and employment.
- Earlier youth work roles | 1992–1998 — Delivered centre-based, outreach and summer programmes, including young women's groups.
Additional information
- Full, clean driving licence and car owner.
- Qualifications available on request.
Timeline
Team Manager, Targeted Youth Support Service
Surrey County Council
01.2018 - 01.2024
Early Intervention Team Manager, Adolescent Service
Surrey County Council
07.2014 - Current
Victim Liaison Officer
Lambeth Council
03.2014 - 07.2014
Housing Support Worker, Worthing Foyer
Viridian Housing Association
10.2012 - 11.2013
Senior Youth Support Officer
Surrey County Council
01.2012 - 01.2018
Youth Crime Prevention Practice Manager
Brighton & Hove City Council
08.2008 - 08.2012
Youth Justice Worker and Family Intervention Project Key Worker
Brighton & Hove City Council
03.2006 - 08.2008
Co-ordinator
Bridge to Employment Youth Project
07.2001 - 03.2006
Youth Support Worker
Brighton & Hove City Council
09.2000 - 07.2001
BA (Hons) - Youth and Community Studies
Manchester Metropolitan University