Marie Valente

Experience

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  Volunteer Tutors Organisation

  Jan 1978 - Dec 1978

  FIELD WORKER

  Recruitment and training of volunteers to tutor children who lived in areas of social deprivation. Assessed volunteers' suitability to undertake the work and matched tutors with children. Taught Spanish to adults in the evening of a part time basis. Some of these adults had a physical disability and required individual attention.

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  Social Work Department, Easterhouse Area Team

  Jan 1979 - Dec 1979

  TRAINEE SOCIAL WORKER

  Direct casework and group work with a range of client groups, with a particular emphasis on child care and criminal justice. Worked alongside experienced Social Workers on complex cases involving parental rights applications, rehabilitation with family and children at home on supervision. Worked with a local Day Assessment Unit, Intermediate Treatment Project and Psychological Services.

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  Social Work Department, Ruchazie/Cranhill Area Team

  Jan 1981 - Dec 1985

  SOCIAL WORKER

  HQ - assessment of baby adopters, placing young children for adoption. Supported foster carers. Arranged placements for accommodated children. Casework with families - voluntary and statutory. Young people in Intermediate Treatment Groups. Prepared children for permanent family placement. Parental Rights/Freeing for Adoption applications. Child protection investigations with police. Welfare rights/advocacy work. Criminal Justice - court reports, probation and parole cases. Local community flat onsite duty service. Show less

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  Social Work Department, Barlanark and Possilpark Area Teams

  Jan 1986 - Dec 1992

  SENIOR SOCIAL WORKER

  BarlanarkSupervised Social Workers, Social Work Assistants, Homemakers and Welfare Rights Officers. This area team conducted Community Social Work and had strong links with local groups. Key role in the co-ordination of a local foster carers recruitment campaign. Strong member of the Poverty and Community Development Forum, which developed poverty related services. Led on a local campaign for uptake of Criminal Injuries Compensation for abused women and children. Delivered training and designed a system for monitoring and collating data on Criminal Injuries Compensation applications for children on social workers' caseloads. Sound knowledge of community social work methods. Maintained my clinical skills via group work with a local Primary School Project and had close links with the community worker based on its premises. High level of sexual abuse cases that required expertise in this complex area of work.PossilparkSupervision of Social Workers, Social Work Assistants and Homemakers. Line manager for a Primary School Project, which conducted preventative work and had a team of 5 staff. Managed a considerable number of cases where drug addiction was prevalent and in particular pregnant women that were misusing substances. Maintained clinical skills by direct casework on a small number of complex child protection cases, direct work with abused children, and direct work with sex offenders via the Creating Control programme in Barlinnie Prison and adolescent sex offenders via HALT. Co-worked with specialist staff from NEWSS, a project that supported sexually abused women and conducted therapeutic groupwork. Possilpark team was large, busy and had a heavy bombardment rate and high level of child protection work. Required knowledge of sexual abuse, substance misuse and emergency protection. Show less

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  Social Work Department

  Jan 1993 - Dec 1993

  SENIOR TRAINING OFFICER (EDUCATION, POLICE, REPORTER, SOCIAL WORK)

  Design, delivery and evaluation of an interagency Child Protection Training Programme for multi agency practitioners and managers as part of an inter agency team, which worked together to produce the material and deliver the courses. Training was positively evaluated and won a national award. Required presentation skills and insight into the workings of the Police organization. Maintenance of clinical skills by continuing groupwork with sex offenders as part of the Creating Control Programme in Barlinnie Prison. Show less

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  Social Work Department, District Headquarters Child Care Team

  Jan 1994 - Dec 1995

  ASSISTANT DISTRICT OFFICER

  Arrangement of placements for accommodated children and chaired child care reviews. External manager for 2 children's' homes, one large unit and one small family unit. Undertook adoption counselling work for adoptees searching their origins. Monitoring of the child protection work in 3 area teams. Investigations of complaints against residential staff, both in East District and in purchased placement, mostly residential schools. Clinical skills maintained by continuing direct work via groupwork with adolescent sex offenders. Show less

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  UNICEF

  Jan 1995 - Mar 1995

  CHILD PROTECTION TRAINER (SECONDMENT)

  Design and delivery of a complex programme of sexual abuse training to multi agency staff in Malaysia. Fact-finding exercise in Kuala Lumpur and Sarawak and then designed the material to suit cultural requirements. Project was successful and positively evaluated. Required enhanced knowledge of child protection international perspectives and the law, engagement skills and fine tuned communication skills in a multi cultural setting.

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  Social Work Services

  Jan 1996 - Dec 2000

  AREA MANAGER

  Overall running of the Area Team and its 80 staff. Directly supervised 9 staff including 5 Senior Social Workers, Senior Community Worker, Home Care Organiser, Project Leader and Administrative Officer. Management of a budget of £500,000. Managerial role in the processing of complaints and staff disciplinary issues. Chair of child protection conferences and decision making on complex, contentious cases: secure accommodation, transfer of placement and permanency planning. Management of Criminal Justice team and decision making on the management of high risk offenders. Evaluation, monitoring and planning of Child Care, Community Care and Criminal Justice services for the local area. Liaison with other agencies at a senior level: housing, education, health and police. Regularly liaised with elected members on community issues and high profile cases.Later covered East Kilbride area.. Ensuring high standards of child care service delivery across 3 teams. Directly supervised the 3 Team Leaders in these areas, management of child care budgets of the 3 teams and had a managerial role in complaints and staff disciplinary issues. Chair of child protection conferences and decision making on complex, contentious cases: secure accommodation, transfer of placement and permanency planning. Close work with the Criminal Justice team and significant contribution to decisions on the management of high risk offenders. Evaluation, monitoring and planning of child care services. Lead role in standards. Covered Rutherglen, Blantyre and Larkhall for a period.Seconded to co-ordinate the revision of social work child protection procedures and interagency child protection guidance across the West of Scotland authorities. Designed a training pack for social work. Worked with a range of subgroups that were multi professional and required skilled handling. Latterly assisted other agencies (police, education and health) in their revision process. Design of a training pack for social work. Show less

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  Social Work Resources, Strategic Services, South Lanarkshire Council Offices

  Jan 2001 - Dec 2003

  PLANNING MANAGER

  Direct supervision of Planning and Information Officers, Planning Officers, Children’s Rights Officers and Public Information Officer. Ensured production of Community Care Plan and later assumed responsibility for productions of Children’s Service Plan, Criminal Justice Plan and development of practitioner based research. Social Work link to the Corporate Housing Strategy. Provision of planning support to the Cambuslang/Rutherglen Local Care Partnership group that produced Community Plan. Show less

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  Glasgow City Council, Social Work Services, South East Team (Castlemik)

  Jan 2004 - Dec 2005

  AREA SERVICES MANAGER

  Led team of 100 staff - social work and health professionals. Ensured statutory responsibilities discharged across social work services. Managed team of operational managers. Responsible for management of industrial relations. Managed purchases services and budget- ensured financial targets met. Ensured best value and continuous improvement through efficient deployment of resources. Responsible for local strategic development in partnership with other services and organisations. Ensured policies and procedures were known and applied. Member of Glasgow Child Protection Committee. Managed change process associated with root and branch restructuring. Worked closely with local elected members and community activists. Show less

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  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Child Protection Unit

  Dec 2005 - Aug 2016

  HEAD OF CHILD PROTECTION

  Established and managed NHSGGC Child Protection Unit. Responsible for: specialist advice on complex child protection cases, training, guidance, policies, procedures, management information, performance data, leadership on significant case reviews. Support to Child Protection Committees. Leadership on preparation for inspections. Key role in reinforcing information sharing across health care systems and with partner agencies. Support to clinical governance framework via clinical audit. Management of NHSGGC Child Protection Forum in partnership with its chair. Member of Glasgow Child Protection Committee, Quality Assurance group and Neglect Steering Group. Show less

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  Stirling Council

  Aug 2016 - Aug 2024

  Responsible for planning, delivery and transformational change of Children & Families and Justice social work services. Line of sight (professional advisor and quality assurance) for Adult Social Care services. Professional oversight of standards of professional practice, competence, qualifications and training. Financial management of budget in excess of £13 million. Performance management, risk management and quality assurance role. Integrated working across Children, Justice and Adult social work services. Member of Senior Corporate Management Team with role in corporate planning, risk management and inspection. Role in identifying savings whilst ensuring that the most vulnerable people remain protected. Liaison with Elected Members and external agencies. Chair of Stirling Child Protection Committee since its inception. Chair of Integrated Children's Service Planning Strategic Group for 6 years and chair of Children's Services Strategic Planning Executive Group for 2 years. Chair of Alcohol & Drugs Partnership Group for 3 years and member for 5 years. Member of MAPPA, Community Justice Partnership, Adult Support & Protection Committee, Public Protection Chief Officers Group and Integration Joint Board for 8 years. Show less

  • Retired

    Aug 2024 - Aug 2024

  • CHIEF SOCIAL WORK OFFICER

    Aug 2016 - Aug 2024