Category: Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast
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Leaving Care In Germany And Why Support Drops Away, with Tanja Abou
Leaving care is often framed as a simple skills problem: can you cook, budget, do laundry, get to school on time. On The Secure Start Podcast, German social worker and researcher Tanja Abou argues that this framing misses the heart of transition from out-of-home care. The real question is relational and trauma-informed: will a young…
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How Barbara Docker-Drysdale Built Therapeutic Skill In Care Teams – John Whitwell
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in Foster Care & OOHC | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Social Care Management | The Secure Start Podcast, Supervision in Social Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Management | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start PodcastThe Consultant Who Changed A Community Barbara Docker-Drysdale, often called Mrs D or Pip, shaped modern therapeutic communities by focusing less on “fixing” children directly and more on building therapeutic skill in the adults around them. At the Cotswold Community she was brought in as a consultant psychotherapist to work primarily with staff teams, meeting…
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From Chaos To Calm: Routines, Relationships, And Real Change In Residential Care, Tom Ellison
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in Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Foster Care & OOHC | The Secure Start Podcast, Human Capital & Workforce | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Reflective Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Social Care Management | The Secure Start Podcast, Supervision in Social Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Management | The Secure Start PodcastFrom Chaos To Calm: Routines, Relationships, And Real Change In Residential Care Quality residential care for children who have experienced trauma starts long before any therapy session. It lives in the culture of the home, the clarity of purpose, and the daily rhythm that makes life predictable enough for healing to begin. Experienced organisations describe…
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What if Child Safeguarding Began with Love? A Podcast Interview with Carla Keyte
What if Child Safeguarding Began with Love? What if the most powerful safeguarding tool isn’t another form, but a steady adult who shows up with love? That’s the heart of my conversation with Carla Keyte, founder of Lighthouse and a leading voice in UK residential care, as we unpack how safe, stable, loving homes are…
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Relearning Trust Through Relationships – A Podcast Interview with John Turberville
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in Care-Experienced Voices | The Secure Start Podcast, Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Family Preservation & Reunification | The Secure Start Podcast, Foster Care & OOHC | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma-Informed Schools | The Secure Start PodcastJoin John Turberville as we unpack residential childcare reform, trauma-informed leadership, the role of culture, and what truly supports children to heal and flourish in out-of-home care. Insightful, honest, and deeply relevant for carers, educators and leaders.
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Building Healthy Birth Family Connection – A podcast interview with Adriana Dias
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in Child Protection Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Family Preservation & Reunification | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Reactive Attachment Disorder | The Secure Start Podcast, Reflective Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Supervision in Social Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start PodcastHow a Reflective, Respectful Approach Helped Families Choose Healthier Relationships Child protection is often described with neat outcomes and rigid timelines, but the lived work rarely fits those lines. This episode explores a project in Portugal, Revira Volta, that set out to build healthier relationships between girls in residential care and their birth families by…
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Building Trauma Informed Schools – A podcast interview with Megan Corcoran
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in Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Reactive Attachment Disorder | The Secure Start Podcast, Reflective Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma-Informed Schools | The Secure Start PodcastHow supporting adults creates the safety children need to learn, belong, and heal Belonging sits at the heart of healing, and this conversation explores how schools can become places where children recover, learn, and feel seen—without asking teachers to be therapists. The core idea is simple: when adults in education and youth services feel supported,…
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The Science of Prevention: How We Can End Child Maltreatment, with Benjamin Perks
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in Care Leavers & Aftercare | The Secure Start Podcast, Care-Experienced Voices | The Secure Start Podcast, Child Protection Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Human Capital & Workforce | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Prevention & Early Intervention | The Secure Start Podcast, Reactive Attachment Disorder | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma-Informed Parenting | The Secure Start PodcastThe Importance of Attachment and the Science of Prevention in Child Development In a recent podcast episode, Benjamin Perks, Head of Campaigns and Advocacy at UNICEF, shared profound insights about child development, attachment theory, and the global effort to end child maltreatment. His personal journey from growing up in residential care to becoming a leader…
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Building Hope: Lighthouse Foundation’s Legacy of Love
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in Care Leavers & Aftercare | The Secure Start Podcast, Child Protection Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Family Preservation & Reunification | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Reactive Attachment Disorder | The Secure Start Podcast, Reflective Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Supervision in Social Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Management | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start PodcastThe Lighthouse Foundation: Transforming Youth Homelessness Through Relationships and Community In a world where vulnerable children and youth often fall through the cracks of support systems, the Lighthouse Foundation stands as a beacon of hope. Founded 33 years ago by Susan Barton AM, this Australian organisation has pioneered a therapeutic approach to youth homelessness that…
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Leadership Alignment: The Backbone of Therapeutic Practice
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in Child Protection Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Reflective Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Supervision in Social Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Management | The Secure Start PodcastEveryone Needs Reflective Space, Even the CEO The concept of therapeutic practice in social care settings is often misunderstood or diluted, yet it remains one of the most powerful approaches for creating meaningful change in the lives of vulnerable young people. Simon Benjamin, with over two decades of experience across various care models, offers profound…