Tracy Bowen

• Develop and deliver a wide range of training programs for professionals and foster carers involved in the adoption, fostering and kinship sector.
• Fostering Lead for AFKA Cymru, delivering extensively to fostering panels, panel chairs and vice chairs, panel advisors and decision makers. As well as all other aspects of fostering provision e.g Preparation to Foster, Annual Reviews, Parent and Child Fostering, etc.
• Coordinator of Welsh Fostering Panel Chairs Special Interest Group.
• Coordinator of Welsh Medical Advisors Special Interest Group and associate member of CoramBaaf Medical Advisors Group.
• Provision of advice and consultancy on a wide range of permanency related issues across the sector in Wales and

production of a number of publications,

best practice guidance and tool kits e.g.

Annual Reviews Best Practice Guide

Wales), Allegations toolkit for

professionals.

• Vice Chair of the St Davids Fostering Service Fostering Panel, with specific consideration for Welsh Early Permanence approvals.

• Team Manager for mainstream fostering service.
• Responsible for all aspects of service delivery, fostering recruitment, assessment and support.
• Management of large staff team.
• Fostering Panel Advisor for mainstream fostering service and panel member for family and friends panel.
• Responsible for the recruitment, induction, appraisal and oversight of all panel members and the central list.
• Responsibility for quality assurance of all assessments and reviews presented to fostering panel and the overall quality assurance function for the service.
• Chair of a large number of inter-agency meetings, including placement stability, annual reviews, matching meetings, and standards of care meetings.

• Team Manager of Fostering Service.
• Responsibility for recruitment, retention, support and supervision of foster carers approved by the service.
• Responsibility for supervision and management of staff group.
• Responsibility for overall quality assurance of all assessments, annual reviews, and termination of approval matters for fostering panel.
• National responsibility for the Confidence in Care fostering training program.

• Manager of Team of Independent Reviewing Officers who conducted fostering annual reviews.
• Lead officer for Annual Reviews carrying out those most complex where there were allegations, concerns or other areas of complexity.
• Fostering Panel Advisor for mainstream and family and friends panel.

• Self employed practitioner carrying out a wide range of assessments and other services across children's social care in London and the South East of England.
• Completion of Form F assessments
• Completion of Unified Assessments, Form C, and SGO assessment reports in relation with kinship matters.
• Completion of PAR reports
• Parenting and risk assessments for court proceedings
• Audits for services prior to inspection and as part of service review processes.

• Responsible for the strategic and operational delivery of the family court welfare service across London.
• Responsibility for the running of the self employed contractor service.
• Responsibility for the running of the Guardian service at the Inner London Family Proceedings court including the duty Guardian service.
• Cafcass representative on the Family, Drug and Alcohol Court service at the inner London FPC,
• Cafcass representative on a number of safeguarding boards across London.
• Cafcass author of a number of service reports for serious case review matters.
• Supervision and quality assurance responsibilities for public law matters before courts.

• Advocated for children's best interests in family court hearings.
• Managed complex public law matters during care proceedings, adoption, SGO and kinship matters.
• Completed a wide range of Children's Guardians assessments in order to support the court in reaching its determinations about future plans for vulnerable children.
• Direct work with looked after children in a wide range of settings to ensure their views, wishes and feelings were considered as part of the court proceedings.

During this period I was initially a Team Manager and then a Service Manager for the London Borough of Harrow Children's Service. My duties included:

• Management of a team of social workers responsible for child protection, children in need, and children looked after assessments, and plans.
• Responsibility for a service area including 3 teams of social workers, primarily concerned with services to children in need of protection and the children's hospital social work service.
• Vice Chair of the Local Authority Fostering Panel.
• Responsible manager for the Area Child Protection Committee (Children's Safeguarding Board)
• Wide ranging experience of oversight, supervision, quality assurance of case management related issues connected to vulnerable children in receipt of services.

Independent Reviewing Officer Responsible for:

• Independent Chair of Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences.
• Reviews of Children Looked After.
• Strategy meetings where there were allegations against professionals or individuals responsible for the public care of children.
• Quality Assurance and audit responsibilities.

• Supported the Team Manager with management of children's social work team.
• Staff supervision and case management oversight.
• Preparation of reports for court.
• Risk Assessment.
• Chairing multi-agency meetings including Looked After Children's Reviews.
• Management of the children's duty service.

• Case holding responsibilities for children in need, children subject to safeguarding concerns and children looked after.
• Completion of a wide range of assessments dependent on needs of individual children.
• Completion of reports for court proceedings and experience of presenting information in court.
• Direct work with vulnerable children subject to child protection plans and looked after.
• Partnership work with parents and a wide range of other stakeholders.

• Case holding social worker with a varied client group
• Assessment and support for Elderly people including part 3 accommodation.
• Assessment and support for adults with disabilities.
• Assessment and support for adults diagnosed with HIV and AIDS.
• Assessment and support for adults with mental health difficulties.
• Assessment and support for vulnerable children and families, including care proceedings, guardianship and place of safety plans.