Christine Brown – Workforce Learning and Development Manager

I began my career in social work within a children’s residential home in 1982. At this time, we were called house parents and there were 24 children and young people living in large Victorian buildings away from their local community.  I gained my Social Work qualification in 1992; however, I wanted to remain working directly with children and young people in residential care.  I gained promotions into management positions where I had responsibility for developing and managing new residential homes within local communities to accommodate 6 young people. I have also worked within a Secure Care setting and managed services supporting older young people to move into their own tenancy.  I joined the Workforce development Team in 2000.

Throughout my career I have always been acutely aware of the need to support and develop staff to ensure they can meet the needs of the children and young people and their families, and to do this they also needed support to ensure their own well-being. This led me to gain qualifications to deliver training to ensure I was equipped to provide the learning and development opportunities and training required for staff teams. Having witnessed ‘burnout’ and high staff turnover, supporting staff wellbeing is always high on my agenda.

Adoption, Fostering and Kinship Care

It is a requirement by the Care Inspectorate that all carers have access to relevant training and support to enable them to fulfil their caring role. Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership has a dedicated member of staff in Workforce Development Team who works closely with colleagues in the Family Placement Team to ensure that a wide range of information, training and opportunities for learning are provided to meet the changing needs of carers and staff supporting families.

Lesley Creevy

I qualified as an early years practitioner in 2001 and went on to become peripatetic assessor and verifier across all sectors (private, voluntary and Council) within early years and after school. In 2014 I gained a degree in childhood practice and joined Falkirk working across Workforce Development and the Family Placement Team. My role is to support the learning, understanding and development of carers in a way that helps them to meet the growing needs of the children and young people they care for.

I am particularly interested in the links between Attachment and Trauma and the impact this has on relationships across the lifespan.