Wales Government arranged a national conference to discuss their vision to see less children in Wales in care. Dafydd Paul was asked to present Gwynedd’s recent work on Effective Child Protection to the Conference.
CAFCASS Cymru commissioned Bruce Thornton, JBT Training and Development to modify and develop the Risk Model for application for use by CAFCASS Cymru. This included a review of the case recording and assessment frameworks used by CAFCASS Cymru with a recommendation for service development. It also included how specialist tools could support this. The Risk Model and Assessment Tools were modified for CAFCASS Cymru’s use. In addition, several new tools were developed for CAFCASS Cymru in the areas of assessing contact and attachment.
Dafydd Paul of Gwynedd Council’s Children and Supporting Families Service was invited to present to Association of Directors of Social Services Wales’ national conference for Heads of Children Services. Taking the theme of Munro’s Final report where there was reference to ‘risk principles’ and Munro’s challenge about how social workers should be judged. She notes (paraphrased) that ‘social workers should be judged, not by the outcomes of their decisions, but by the quality and consistency of decision making.’ The emerging challenge to Local authorities was ‘how do you assu
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.
Dafydd Paul of Gwynedd Council’s Children and Supporting Families Service was invited to present at the NSPCC’s national conference on child protection in Manchester. The presentation was titled ‘The Risk Model: An innovative and practical system to assess the risk of significant harm.’ The theme of the presentation was the disconnection between statutory requirements and the reality of front line practice in child protection echoing the recent BASPCAN presentation. The Risk Model was presented as a practical approach to bridging this divide. Dafydd was joined by Bru
Dafydd Paul of Gwynedd Council’s Children and Supporting Families Service was invited to BASPCAN’s 12th National Congress in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Congress bought together research and practice in contemporary child protection and included contributors from the UK and Ireland. Dafydd’s presentation focussed on Gwynedd’s work on the Risk Model. In presenting the Model Dafydd challenged the systemic disconnection between what is expected of practitioners and what can routinely be delivered in practice. The areas where frameworks, tools and solutions was requir
Gwynedd Council’s Children and Supporting Families Service was awarded a Social Care Accolade 2011 in the category of “Supporting effective interventions with children and families.” This prestigious award was presented to Dafydd Paul on behalf of Gwynedd Council. In presenting the Deputy Minister Gwenda Thomas AM congratulated Gwynedd on their work and indicated her wish that this was implemented across Wales.