18 & 19 MAY 2010 • BUSINESS DESIGN CENTRE, ISLINGTON, LONDON

DEBATES

Floorplan

 

DAY ONE PROGRAMME DETAILS (18 May 2010)
Programme details are subject to change at short notice. Please check the web site regularly for updates. All sessions are available on a first come, first served basis. Students over 18 only.

AUDITORIUM

10 – 11.30am
MAKING THE NATIONAL DEMENTIA STRATEGY A REALITY IN TOUGH TIMES
The National Audit Office recently concluded that the National Dementia Strategy after its first year was in danger of being an expensive failure. With four lean years to deliver improvements both time and money will are in short supply. Creative solutions to tackling Britain’s dementia time bomb are what is needed.
Speaker:

 
12 – 1.30pm
KEYNOTE DEBATE
THE SOCIAL WORK REFORM BOARD: BUILDING A SAFE, CONFIDENT FUTURE IN SOCIAL WORK
The Social Work Task Force issued its final report to ministers in December 2009, outlining a comprehensive action plan to raise the quality and status of the social work profession in England. A government-appointed reform board was set up with Moira Gibb at the helm to oversee the changes. This session will look at progress so far and the likelihood of successful implementation.
Speaker:


2 - 3.30pm
MANAGING INCREASING REFERRALS: IDENTIFYING THE MOST SERIOUS CASES
Post Baby P, historically high levels of child protection referrals look set to stay. With local authority leaders calling for a radical rethink of the system, this session will examine how social workers can effectively manage these referrals and identify the most serious cases by working closely with partners in other services.
Speakers:


 
4 - 5.30pm
QUESTION TIME
Hosted by Jeremy Vine, Broadcaster and Journalist

Panel Members:


ROOM 1
10.30am – 12pm
HOW DOES NEW HORIZONS MOVE ON AND IMPROVE THE MENTAL HEALTH STRATEGY FOR SERVICE USERS?
New Horizons is a new strategy aimed at promoting good mental health and wellbeing, whilst improving services for people who have mental health problems. The strategy focuses not only on treatment outcomes, but on wider quality of life issues, with a central aim of combating depression. Poor mental health is believed to cost the economy £77billion a year, with the King’s Fund predicting that the cost in terms of GDP will double to over 10% by 2026. 
 


12.30 – 2pm
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: ARE CHILDREN'S SOCIAL WORKERS WELL ENOUGH EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH IT?
While children may not be directly targeted, living in a home where domestic violence is present and witnessing this kind of abuse can have detrimental effect on their mental and emotional wellbeing. This session will look at what tools have been developed to help social workers deal with these situations and if it is enough.



 2.30 – 4pm
BUILDING CARING COMMUNITIES
At the heart of personalisation is the view that people’s health, independence and well-being are dependent on their social networks and ability to participate in community life; not just on care services. This session looks at a Department of Health project to understand the role of social capital and building community capacity in delivering the Putting People First programme.  
Speaker:


DAY TWO PROGRAMME DETAILS (19 May 2010)
Programme details are subject to change at short notice. Please check the web site regularly for updates. All sessions are available on a first come, first served basis. Students over 18 only.

AUDITORIUM

10 – 10.30am
Keynote Address


10.45am – 12pm
WHEN SHOULD CHILDREN BE REMOVED? LINKS WITH NEGLECT AND THRESHOLDS FOR CARE
There’s no tougher decision than whether to remove a child from their birth family. Get it wrong and the consequences can be devastating. However, there’s plenty of research that shows children do better if kept with their birth families. Find out how to balance responsibilities to children in need with the necessity for care thresholds in councils where care budgets are stretched to breaking point.
Speaker:


12.30 - 1.45pm
NO SECRETS:  SAFEGUARDING BOARDS GET THEIR BITE BACK
Plans to put safeguarding boards on a statutory footing could drastically change the how social workers and other agencies work together to keep people safe. But for them to be effective agreement on how to tackle the challenges posed by personalisation, funding levels and greater multi-agency co-operation must be addressed.
Speaker:



2.15 - 3.45pm
RISK FACTOR - LIVE!
Managing the Risk of Detention for a Client with Severe Mental Health Problems
This interactive session will draw from a real-life experience and audience participation to resolve a case study of a 45 year old man with severe mental health problems who has found it hard to engage in mental health services. How would you manage his anti-social behaviour to promote both his wellbeing and continued independence; and avoid the potential for either police intervention or detention by mental health services?
Speakers:


ROOM 1

10.30 – 11.45am
PUTTING CARERS IN CONTROL
This session will look at the challenges of commissioning personalised support for carers, including the provision of advice and information, advocacy and services such as short breaks. It will look at good practice in involving carers in the design of services, helping overlooked groups of carers access support and in building communities’ capacity to sustain carers in their role and help them fulfill wider aspirations.
Speakers:


12.15 - 1.15pm
SOCIAL WORK REFORM PROGRAMME: TRANSFORMING CAREER PATHWAYS
The Social Work Reform Board is overseeing the creation of a single, nationally recognised career structure for social workers, including an assessed first year of practice and an “advanced professional” status, linked to a license to practice system. This session looks at the work already under way to transform the status of the profession in England and the hurdles that still need to be overcome.
Speaker:


1.45 - 3pm
FROM CARE TO ADULTHOOD: THE CHALLENGE OF IMPLEMENTING NEW GUIDANCE
In the midst of a general election, with the recession still biting, achieving positive outcomes for children leaving care is as important and challenging as ever. With new guidance aiming to strengthen the pathways from care to adulthood, what challenges and changes should professionals be aware of when supporting care leavers into work, further education and accommodation? And how best should care leavers be engaged in their own pathway planning? 

 

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES 

DR MAGGIE ATKINSON became Children’s Commissioner for England in March, a statutory role in which she champions the interests of children in England, and across the UK for issues relating to asylum and immigration. She was previously director of Children’s Services for Gateshead.  She is past president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and has chaired a number of national bodies relating to children’s services.
http://www.11million.org.uk/

SHAUN BAILEY is managing director of My Generation, a registered charity set up to address the social problems that affect young people and their families, including antisocial behaviour, drug use, crime, teen pregnancy, educational under-achievement and unemployment. He is the author of No-Man’s Land, a pamphlet analysing the social crisis afflicting our inner cities,
www.mygeneration.org.uk

DR GRAEME BETTS has been the joint lead for the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services Policy Network on Carers since October 2006. He is also executive director of Adults, Community and Leisure at London Borough of Newham. He previously he held a range of posts within local government and the NHS.
 

ADAM BRODY trained as an actor at the Bridge Theatre Training Company. Over the years he has toured the country as Caliban in 'The Tempest' , Romeo in 'Romeo and Juliet' and Lord Capulet also in 'Romeo and Juliet' Most recently he was in a newly written play called 'Diabolique Banquet' at the Contact Theatre in Manchester. He also performed at the 2009 Manchester Comedy festival as part of the comedy troupe '3 prong attack'. Over the last two years Brody has done plenty of corporate work including work for Bae, Birmingham City Council and the Royal College of Surgeons.
 
HILTON DAWSON has been chief executive of BASW since May 2009. He had 15 years’ social work experience with Lancashire County Council and has worked for ChildLine and as chief executive of Shaftesbury Young People in the voluntary sector. A qualified social worker for almost 30 years, Hilton has been actively involved in politics for much of this time and was Labour MP for Lancaster & Wyre from 1997 until standing down in 2005.
www.basw.co.uk

ANTHONY DOUGLAS has been chief executive of Cafcass, the specialist national agency representing children and families in family courts throughout England, since 2004. Prior to this he was director of Social Services in the London Borough of Havering. He was an economist and then a journalist prior to becoming a social worker. Douglas was awarded a CBE in 2008 for services to family justice and adoption.
www.cafcass.gov.uk

GARY FITZGERALD has been with Action on Elder Abuse since 2001 and was appointed chief executive on 2 April 2002. He worked for over 20 years within local government social care provision previously. Fitzgerald has a special interest in equality and social inclusion issues in relation to aspects of abuse. He has spoken in the United Kingdom and Ireland on elder abuse, regularly contributes to radio and television programmes on the subject and sits on the management committees of the Older People’s Advocacy Alliance and the Practitioners Alliance Against the Abuse of Vulnerable Adults.
www.elderabuse.org.uk

ALEX FOX is director of policy and communications for The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, a UK-wide network of services supporting 400,000 unpaid family carers, including 25,000 young carers. He leads on partnerships with the NHS and adult services. He sits on the Standing Commission on Carers and is a board member of the Health Hotel, Working with Older People and the Journal of Integrated Care. He is a visiting lecturer at Nottingham University.
www.carers.org

MOIRA GIBB chaired the Government’s Social Work Task Force and is now chairing the Social Work Reform Board. She joined Camden as chief executive in July 2003 and before this she was executive director of housing and social services in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. She was appointed CBE for Services to social services in 2002.
 

PERDEEP GILL qualified as a social worker 20 years ago and is now an independent safeguarding advisor and consultant. She also provides specialist advice on safeguarding cases involving ethnic minorities and Local Safeguarding Children Board development. Gill is a child protection advisor to BME voluntary and faith groups as well as to the Metropolitan Police.

 SIMON HENG became a wheelchair user 14 years ago following a rare spinal disorder. He has been active in promoting service user involvement and disability issues for the past 12 years, and was the chair of the Worcestershire Association of Service for 10 years. His involvement has included training with social and health care workers, and teaching health and social care students. This included many years as the service user representative on Worcestershire's Vulnerable Adults Protection Committee (now the Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Committee). Heng writes a fortnightly column in Community Care magazine, highlighting disability and service user issues. In November 2005, he was awarded an honorary MA for his services to the community, by the University of Worcester.

RAY JONES is Professor of Social Work at Kingston University and St. George’s, University of London. From 1992 to 2006 he was director of social services, and then director of adult and community services, with Wiltshire County Council. He was the first chief executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence, and has been chair of the British Association of Social Workers.

NUSHRA MANSURI is joint manager in England for the British Association of Social Workers. One of her key responsibilities is leading on children and families social work. She qualified as a social worker in 1993 and went on to work for a local authority in a Children and Families Team for just under three years. Prior to this, she worked in a multi-disciplinary setting for a Social Services and Education Directorate as a social worker supporting the educational needs of looked after children. 
www.basw.co.uk

BRONAGH MISKELLY is the group editor of Community Care. She has previously edited GP newspaper for several years as well as Medeconomics and Enterprise magazines. Miskelly, who started her working life as a community relations youth worker in Belfast, has also worked on both sides of the camera in television production.
www.communitycare.co.uk


JOANNA NICOLAS qualified as a social worker in 1995 and was employed in the statutory sector until 2008. She now works independently, consults on child protection, policy and procedures and undertakes serious case reviews. Nicolas delivers safeguarding training on behalf of her Local Safeguarding Children Board, as well as in the independent sector.
www.joannanicolas.co.uk

MARK SLOMAN has been based within a Community Mental Health Team based in Somerset for 10 years. He is 'approved' to use the Mental Health Act 1983 and has also worked in frontline child protection services and in training and education around safeguarding children. Sloman is a visiting lecturer at University of West of England and also is an associate lecturer for the Open University.

ANNIE STEVENSON has a background is in social work and has 30 years experience of all sectors and all user groups in care. She has specialised in social work with older people and dementia, worked in the independent sector and in care policy for Help the Aged. At the Social Care Institute for Excellence she helped develop the Dementia Gateway and now has her own consultancy called Integration in Care.

OLIVE STEVENSON is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nottingham. She has published widely in many aspects of social work, but in recent years has focused mainly on child and adult protection and safeguarding. She has chaired Area Child Protection Committees and been involved in many Serious Case Reviews. Since the mid 1990s, she has concentrated on the serious and growing problem of neglect. The second edition of her book on this subject was published in 2007. (Blackwell).
www.olivestevenson.com

JEAN STOGDON is 81. She qualified as a social worker in 1971 and is still registered with GSCC. Stogdon spent most of her career in front line services (Camden) - both as a social worker and manager - and was a Children’s Guardian for ten years. In 1999 she travelled to the USA on a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study issue around grandparents and kinship care. In 2001 she co-founded Grandparents Plus with Michael Young to promote the role of grandparents and the value to children of the extended family. Grandparents Plus also trains professionals and offers consultation to childrens services on kinship care. Jean has been a mother for 58 years and a grandmother for 28 years.
 
JEREMY VINE established himself as a charming but tough-talking presenter on BBC2’s Newsnight. He now presents the daily lunchtime show on Radio 2 and fronts Panorama. On television, Jeremy has taken over Peter Snow’s Swingometer for all BBC election coverage. Other credits include The Politics Show.