At the BASW Wales Awards in 2013, Dafydd Paul was recognised at a Wales-wide ceremony for innovative work carried out in the field of child protection. Gwynedd Council’s Dafydd Paul was recognised for his work on developing the Risk Model and received the ‘Innovative Social Work Award’ at the 2013 BASW Cymru Social Work Awards.
The model which has been rolled-out to a number of other Councils across Wales and England in both Children and Family Justice Services was recognised in the Innovative Social Work Award category.
Councillor Wyn Williams, Gwynedd Council Cabinet Member for Care said:
“Many congratulations to Dafydd for this well-deserved accolade. This national award is fantastic recognition of the groundbreaking work which has already been beneficial to children here in Gwynedd and which has been adopted by councils across Wales and England.”
Dafydd Paul, said his recognition by professional peers, academics and researchers was an achievement for the whole of Children’s Services in Gwynedd. He said: “Decision making in child protection is complex. One of the challenges facing leaders is how to support frontline staff in their work in these difficult areas. This work focussed on making better and more consistent decisions in child protection. This was one of the key themes in the Munro Report and has generated so much interest amongst other councils in Wales and England. Over many years I have been supported by managers in the areas of mental health and child protection to innovate and develop models to assist frontline practitioners. The Award reflects their approach to professional leadership in some of the most difficult areas in public services.”
The scheme which secured the national award assists social workers to make more consistent evidence based decisions in the areas of child protection.
Dafydd receiving his award from John Wicks, Managing Director of Cansford Laboratories who sponsored the award, and Dr Lolita Tsanaclis, Scientific Director.
