Expert Social Work Consultancy

I have been a practicing Social Worker since 2011 and during my career have worked with numerous Local Authorities and Organisations in frontline Social Work positions, supporting families with a broad range of issues and needs.

 

I became an Independent Social Worker in 2022 and since that time I have completed reports for the Family Court and Court of Protection for both children and adults. This includes, but is not limited to, Parenting Assessments, Risk Assessments, Mental Capacity Assessments, Assessments relating to Deprivations of Liberty, Section 7 Reports and Contact Assessments. 

 

I also offer Training, Consultancy and Supervision to Social Workers (and teams), Children's Residential Homes, Registered Managers, Responsible Individuals and other professionals involved in caring for children, young adults or adults. Whilst I have a particular specialism in Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty, I am able to offer a broad range of topics and I am happy to discuss your needs.

About Stuart Donohue

During my career I have gained extensive experience in working with children and their families, particularly within safeguarding arenas and the Family Court processes (both public and private law). I have specific experience in working with families where the issues relate to the “toxic trio”; neglect, abuse (physical, sexual, emotional etc.) and where children are considered to be “beyond parental control”. 

My experience of court work includes completing parenting assessments, viability assessments, special guardianship assessments, risk assessments, and developing safety plans for children.

During my career I have worked on child protection teams, assessment teams, children in care teams, children with disability teams, a court team and Cafcass. 

During my time at Cafcass I fine-tuned my reporting skills, with a particular focus on the needs and voice of children, and providing an analytical overview of situations in a succinct manner. I also developed my skills in completing Re W assessments and enhancing my understanding of legal processes not used by local authorities, such as 16.4 Guardians.

Throughout my career I have had a keen interest in working with children and young people with additional needs, whether this is a form of disability, learning need or mental health difficulty. This interest has led to me being involved in the care and safety planning of children with particularly complex and/or challenging needs, including mental health act assessments, capacity assessments, risk management meetings, care and treatment reviews, and education health and care plan assessments and reviews. Many of these young people also had safeguarding risks around them, whether this was poor parental mental health, drug and/or alcohol misuse, neglect or domestic abuse. Meaning that whilst this was an area of interest for me, it did not take away from my core skills of assessing risk and working with families to manage and reduce those risks.

 

This particular interest is what led to me developing my specialisms around Mental Capacity Assessments and Deprivation of Liberty. I have been completing Mental Capacity Assessments (which are compliant with the Mental Capacity Act 2005) since 2015 and have completed these for children, young adults and adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health difficulties and substance misuse issues. These experiences have given me a broad range of skills I can utilise to help me engage with the subject of the assessment and provide high quality, detailed and evidence based assessments, which can be used in the Family Court or Court of Protection. I also have experience of working with children and adults who are subject to Deprivations of their Liberty and have worked closely with Local Authorities, placement providers and families to ensure that deprivations are appropriate, proportionate, and that there is a clear “exit plan” so that restrictions are not left in place when they are no longer needed.

I also hold qualifications in Systemic Practice with children and families and make use of motivational interviewing, reflexive and reflective questioning and reframing when conducting interviews with adults.

Services Provided

Explore our range of services designed to support social workers and childcare providers. We pride ourselves on delivering quality and insight that drive success.

Independent Social Work Assessments

Thorough evaluations within Family Court proceedings ensuring informed decisions in challenging and complex cases.

Bespoke Training Programs

 

Tailored training for residential childcare staff and social work teams, enhancing skills and knowledge in critical areas.

Specialisation in Mental Capacity

Comprehensive training that equips staff with the understanding of mental capacity legislation and processes.

Mental Capacity Assessments conducted in a timely & robust manner to support Court applications.

Supervision and Consultation

Ongoing or stand-alone supervision for residential teams and  independent social workers when undertaking complex assessments, to assist in understanding regulations, and many other needs.

Contact us

Mobile / WhatsApp: 07983205595

E-mail: enquiries@sdswconsultancy.com

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