SKEF: An Exploration of Hackney & Islington Edge of Care Services

The Specialist Knowledge and Exchange Forums provide a unique opportunity to share practice experience and specialist skills, that will inform practice and service development. These sessions are suitable for social work practitioners, managers and anyone involved in supporting social work practice.

SESSION SUMMARY

This session will be presented by Naznin Ali, London Borough of Hackney and Andre Mathurine, Jennifer Flandro, and Steve Sterling, London Borough of Islington.

Participants will learn about the Edge of Care service and together explore:

• The Edge of Care service delivery and design: overview and practice examples;
• The statistical data and the problem of adolescence entering the care system;
• Some of the operational dilemmas and challenges faced by children, families and professionals.

Participants will be able to share their own experiences and consider the usefulness, applicability and potential impact on practice and service outcomes.

PRESENTERS

Andre Mathurine

Andre has an active role in designing and delivering an intensive Edge of Care Service for young people who are at risk of becoming looked after by the Local Authority due to contextual risks.  Before joining Islington Council to be a part of the Integrated Gangs Team, Andre worked as an Assistant Psychologist and Youth Worker for a charity named MAC UK which was based in Tottenham, Haringey. This role saw him working in partnership with the London Boroughs of Haringey,  Barnet and Enfield alongside Haringey Mental Health Trust to improve the outcomes of marginalised and socially excluded young people from the local area using Coproduction, Narrative Therapy and Adolescent Mentalization-Based Integrative Therapy (AMBIT). 

Andre has a wealth of experience working with young people affected by “gangs” and serious youth violence in many boroughs across London. Andre is born and raised in East London, a father, a Community Psychologist, and some may say is an out-of-the-box thinker.

Naznin Ali

Naznin has worked in Hackney Council for 5 years within the Edge of Care Service. Naznin has extensive experience in supporting vulnerable families on the edge of care with multiple complex needs, working closely with agencies that include: Children’s Social Care, Youth Offending, EFRP and Early Help.

Naznin has worked in the Health and Social Care Sector for over 21 years in both Local Authority and the third sector in Leeds, Wakefield, Westminster and Hackney Councils. The training that has been incorporated into Naznin’s practice includes; Motivational Interviewing, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Post Graduate Certificate in Adult Counselling Psychotherapy, year 1 and year 2 in Systemic Practice, parenting programmes such as Strengthening Families 10-17 and Mellow Parenting program.

Jennifer Flandro

Jenn is a Case Manager for Islington Council’s Adolescent Support and Intervention Project (ASIP). In this role, Jenn works intensively with young people, their families and their networks to prevent young people at risk in the community from coming into care whenever it is safe to do so. Prior to joining ASIP, Jenn was a social worker for (one of) Islington’s Child in Need teams where she was responsible for assessments, child protection and court work. Prior to moving to London in 2013, Jenn worked in education in New York City, serving as a primary school teacher and principal in underserved areas. Throughout her career, Jenn has had a passion for working to improve access to opportunities for children and their families.

Steve Sterling

Steve currently works as a Psychosocial Practitioner, in Islington Council. He returned from Enfield Council, where he worked as a Youth Justice Service officer. Steve joined Islington to intensively support young people, their families and peers in a contextual way, safeguarding young people who are deemed on the edge of care. Steve has experience working with young people derived from his time at Safer London where he worked as a Pan London Gang Exit worker covering 28 boroughs in partnership with London Probation Service. He has extensive experience in  working with “hard-to-reach” individuals. Steve’s last role with Safer London was a secondment to Islington council where he managed a mentoring project for 4 years. Steve is a father, grandfather, and a Psychosocial Practitioner with a can-do attitude. 

HOW TO REGISTER:

YOU NEED TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST VIA THE GOOGLE LINK BELOW:

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Due to the limited spaces available, if this event is oversubscribed, places will be shared between Partner organisations. We ask that participants who sign up to this event to save the date in their diary however, seven days before the event a final confirmation email (to include joining instructions) will be sent to participants who have been guaranteed a place to attend the session.

*This session is open to social workers and staff working in social care across the Teaching Partnership (Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington Councils and Norwood).