Welcome from the Corporate Director, Children and Young People
Thank you for your interest in joining our Children and Young People’s service.
As the new Director for Children and Young People, here in North Yorkshire I am excited to announce significant investment in our children and families service.
Across local government, children’s services are facing unprecedented demand and funding constraint. Many organisations are responding by reducing capacity and narrowing ambition. We have chosen a different path. In response to the Families First Partnership Programme reforms, we in NYC are seeking to expand out teams in order to drive the changes of supporting children and their families at the earliest opportunity, right time, right person.
We are making a significant and sustained investment in our workforce—creating new and additional capacity across children’s social care, which will become Family help and our Multi agency child protections teams. At a time when others are making savings, we are growing our teams because we believe that safe, effective and relationship based practice relies on practitioners having the time, support and professional space to do their best work, with children.
More capacity. More prevention. Better outcomes.
Be part of a service investing in family help and sustainable practice.
This investment spans the whole system. We are recruiting children’s social workers, specialist social workers for risk outside the home, independent reviewing officers, group managers and heads of service to be part of a service that is deliberately designed to be stronger, more stable and more resilient for the future.
Central to our approach is our commitment to the Families First Partnership Programme reforms. We are reshaping how we work with families—shifting the balance toward earlier family help, prevention and sustained support, while keeping children safe when risk is high, inside and outside the family. This is not reform driven by theory alone. It is reform grounded in practice, lived experience and what our workforce, children, parents and carers have told us would help and support them the most.
We also bring a strong legacy. Our service has long been recognised for being at the cutting edge of social work practice—investing in reflective supervision, evidence informed models and strong professional leadership. That commitment has not waivered. What has changed is the scale of our ambition and the level of resource we are prepared to put behind it.
Crucially, we do reform with our staff and for our staff. We involve practitioners and leaders in shaping practice, structures and ways of working. We listen, we adapt, and we act—because sustainable change only happens when the people delivering the work are trusted, valued and heard.
Building a stronger system for children—and the people who support them.
Before joining North Yorkshire I observed a high performing authority that was well respected and took the lead to drive social care practice. Now here, I have observed first hand that it is the dedication and quality of our social work practitioners and leaders that underpin what is special about North Yorkshire. That is why one of my first priorities is to further strengthen capacity, practice and leadership to ensure that great work with children and their families can thrive and drive real and meaningful, sustained change.
When families are supported first, children thrive.
If you are looking for a role where your expertise will be respected, your development actively supported and your contribution genuinely valued, you will find that here. This is an opportunity not just to join a service, but to help shape its future—for children, for families and for the profession we are proud to serve. Be part of something special.
