Key areas of responsibility
Professional responsibility for and providing input to policy development with regard to:
- Looked After Children, including residential care, family placements and foster care
- Domestic and Intercountry Adoption
- care planning and review
- leaving and aftercare
- representation of children and children's rights
- schemes for the delegation of statutory functions
- Secure Accommodation
Screening assessment of need for and securing access to secure accommodation, in particular for children under 13 years.
Providing professional input, as required, into the evaluation of:
- case management reviews
- serious adverse incidents
- business cases
Providing input in relation to policy development and professional issues with regard to:
- ethnic minority issues
- family support services
- Northern Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Service
- race relations
- asylum seekers
Professional advice in relation to Looked After Childre, ethnic minority and related issues. to Policy Branches, other Government Departments, Agencies, statutory, voluntary and private sector organisations, where appropriate; and
Representing the OSS in a number of DoH and external groupings related to the above areas of work.