brenda nicholas , Bradford, United Kingdom

Since qualifying as a social worker in 1992, I have been employed in a number of different settings including Children’s Services – as a social worker in Duty & Assessment Settings, Care Management and with Looked After children and young people.
Initially I was based in Newcastle upon Tyne and whilst employed by the Local Authority gained experience within the statutory sector whereby I worked mainly with children who were subject to Care Proceedings, and required Care Planning for permanence, this included Adoption and Long Term Fostering.
As a qualified social worker I have also been employed with Children with Disability Teams including 18 months experience as a Senior Practitioner, also as a qualified worker within a Leaving Care Team.
More recently I have mainly been employed within the Fostering Sector and have gained experiences within different local authorities, and have also been able to practice within Statutory and Independent Fostering agencies. These experiences have allowed me to understand the Care Planning process for children and young people from differing perspectives for example as a Supervising social worker within the Independent sector
I have been able to assist foster carers in understanding the fact that challenging behaviour from a young person is often a response to the difficulties they have had to face as a result of their circumstances.
In addition to these skills and experiences I have also worked within a Camhs Team, and currently am a sessional social worker with the IRM (Independent Review Mechanism).