Social Work Journeys through CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)
Join us to learn about and celebrate the role of mental health social work with children and young people - there's so much more than you might think!
This session will explore the wide variety of social work roles within children’s mental health services, working across a variety of settings ranging from inpatient roles to community based and specialist therapeutic roles.
We have a number of speakers who will share their journeys, from being a student on placement in a CAMHS team all the way to being a strategic lead for social workers in an NHS Trust. This session will also touch on the challenges and benefits of being an NHS employed social worker.
We will have a Q and A panel discussion after we have heard from each of our speakers.
Speakers
Annabel Smith is the Professional Lead for Social Care in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, and part of the senior leadership team that oversees her NHS Trusts, CAMHS teams including, community teams, inpatient services, crisis work, eating disorders, schools mental health teams and primary health care teams. She is also the lead for all our social workers and for safeguarding which requires clinical, operational and strategic input. Annabel has worked in CAMHS since 2005 and has established a nationwide CAMHS social work leads network. Annabel is currently undertaking doctoral research into the experiences of social workers within CAMHS.
Tatenda Muskwe is a recently qualified social worker and holds a master's degree in social work. Tatenda’s professional journey began as a support worker, assisting adults who could not live independently and she has worked as a children and families safeguarding social worker within the local authority prior to moving to her current role as a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) primary mental health worker. Tatenda has a strong commitment to charity work and fundraising, with a particular focus on supporting people with disabilities and disadvantaged women and children, she has been actively involved in numerous initiatives in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Wanda Reynolds is a consultant social worker and professional lead for CAMHS social work in Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Trust, she qualified as a social worker in 2000 and has worked in various roles in CAMHS services since and has trained as a Systemic Practitioner, CBT Psychotherapist and Practice Educator. She is passionate about social work and the richness and perspective it brings to our work with families. Since 2016 Wanda has worked in operational management roles in CAMHS overseeing firstly the Early Help Service and then as General Manager across CAMHS and then finally leading on operations for the Acute and Crisis pathway.
Sarah Redmond has been a practising social worker for 21 years and an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) for 12 years. Her background is in children’s services but she is currently in her 13th year of working on an Emergency Duty Service in a generic social work role. Sarah is also involved in research through the Clinical Research Network and her area of interest is the assessment of Children and Young People under the Mental Health Act. She is a passionate advocate for social work practice and is course lead on social work retention through the West Midlands Teaching Partnership, supporting social workers in staying in this rewarding but challenging profession. Sarah also teaches at local Universities including Staffordshire University and University of Birmingham with a focus on the AMHP role.