Mandy Allen

Experienced Social Worker/Child Safety Officer with significant skills and experience in Mental Health, Drug and alcohol Dependency, Child Development, Intergenerational Sexual Abuse, Domestic and Family Violence, Mediation and Gender Dysphoria in children and young people.

An organized and dependable team player, successful at managing multiple priorities with a positive attitude.

Willingness to take on added responsibilities to meet team goals. Detail-oriented team player with strong organizational skills.

• Crisis Response and Safety Advocacy: Proficiently respond to crises and make critical decisions related to the immediate safety of children and their families, even under significant pressure and with limited resources during afterhours. Demonstrated resilience in emotionally intense working environments, maintaining an optimistic outlook while ensuring Queensland families' safety.
• Leadership and Staff Retention: Successfully lead and motivate teams to achieve trauma-informed practices and resilience. Contributed to reducing high staff turnover in Child Safety, a persistent issue across CYJMA.
• Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) Advocacy: Achieved positive outcomes for survivors in the DFV space: Collaborated with survivors, held perpetrators accountable, and accurately recorded information, avoiding past mistakes like victim blaming. Actively worked across multiple agencies to provide an integrated DFV-informed response to families. Advocated against gender stereotypes within families, combating DFV minimization. Used leadership platform to educate and challenge societal beliefs about gender roles, starting in the workplace.
• Gender Dysphoria Advocacy: Pioneered advocacy for a young person with gender dysphoria within Child Safety in Queensland. Successfully applied to the Family Court of Australia for the young person's prescription of puberty blockers and later testosterone.
• Experience in Domestic Violence Services: Served as a member of the management committee for the Oldham Family Crisis Group in Manchester, UK. Worked as a caseworker in a refuge, providing outreach support to women and children experiencing domestic violence.

• Child Safety Officer, Child Safety After Hours, 09/2019, present, CSAHSC is a 24-hour departmental service that provides statutory state-wide after-hours frontline service delivery and responses across the state, to departmental clients, the community, and other government departments and community agencies, in response to child protection and youth justice matters. I manage child protection matters out of business hours – intake enquiries, child concern reports, notifications, additional concerns, unborn child high-risk alerts and assess child protection concerns following the birth of a child. Manage and recording Critical Incidents, child deaths and responding to frontline Investigation and Assessment work out of hours/public holidays/weekends with a 24-hour notification., Empowering First Nations Families: I successfully facilitated positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. For instance, when the CSSC planned to remove a baby at birth from a First Nations Mother, I collaborated with the mother and kin to create a Safety Plan. As a result, the baby remained with their family, avoiding state care. An Intervention with Parental Agreement was opened, eliminating the need for a statutory response., Effective Engagement and Relationship Building: My strong engagement and active listening skills allowed me to establish trusting relationships with children, families, carers, and both government and non-government partners. I prioritize the safety and well-being of the child in all interactions., Legal Expertise and Advocacy: Drawing on an extensive knowledge base, I confidently represent CYJMA (formerly Department of Child Safety Qld) in legal settings such as the Children's Court, Family Law Court, and QCAT. Additionally, I actively participate in Child Death reviews, continuously reflecting and seeking opportunities for professional growth., Tenacious Advocacy and Network Building: I have cultivated a network of professionals within government and non-government services. My reputation as a tenacious advocate precedes me, especially in cases where I manage families. I am committed to ensuring that every child feels safe in their home environment., Cultural Awareness and Historical Understanding: Having been born and raised in the United Kingdom, I made a deliberate effort to understand the historical context of First Nations people in Australia. This awareness is crucial for culturally inclusive work with First Nations communities and families. I educated myself on significant events like the Stolen Generation and Colonization, as well as relevant legislation such as the Industrial and Reformatory Schools Act 1865 and the Aboriginal Protection Act.
• Acting Senior Team Leader, Child Safety Hours, Christmas 2022, Christmas 2023, A State-wide government service responding to crisis calls from key government partners, NGO's, the community, families, and children who are concerned about the immediate safety of a child/ren. Assessing risk associated with domestic violence, physical, sexual, psychological harm, and neglect. Immediate safety planning and decision making around the need for further statutory intervention or referral to an NGO to mitigate risk. Processing all child deaths in the State that are subject to a Coronial Inquiry/review. Supporting all children in out of home care and subject to Child Protection Orders and recording all youth justice arrests and advocation for young people in watch house and Youth Detention Centres across the State. We operate when all Child Safety Service Centres and Youth Justice Service Centres are closed., Advocacy for At-Risk Families: I have been a strong representative voice for at-risk families, ensuring their immediate safety and longer-term safety goals. My aim is always to keep families together whenever possible., Leadership and Team Support: As a leader, I guide and support a team of professionals. Our work focuses on quality and reflective practice, with the child's well-being at the forefront of every decision we make.
• Senior Child Safety Officer, CYJMA, Beenleigh CSSC, 11/2017, 09/2019, Delivered statutory child protection services, including assessment, intervention, casework, and case management for complex cases, while adhering to legislation, practice guidelines, and a strength-based framework., Championing Child Safety: Ensured the safety, belonging, and well-being of all children and young people throughout the child protection process., Strategic Service Delivery: Delivered statutory child protection services, including assessment, intervention, casework, and case management for complex cases, while adhering to legislation, practice guidelines, and a strength-based framework., Collaborative Problem-Solving: Worked closely with CSOs and CSSOs on intricate and sensitive cases, fostering effective teamwork., Mentoring and Capacity Building: Provided mentoring and support to develop the skills and knowledge of newly appointed and less experienced CSOs and CSSOs., Educational Leadership: Supervised Social Work students across the Service Centre, contributing to their professional growth., Thorough Assessments and Advocacy: Prepared detailed assessments and affidavits for OCFOS and DCPL, advocating for child safety in Child Protection Order applications., Holistic Caseload Management: Successfully managed caseloads of up to 30 families concurrently, offering support, education, and goal setting for parents, children, and extended kin., Reunification and Collaborative Care: Facilitated reunification of children with biological parents and kin or worked toward permanent out-of-home care arrangements when necessary., Effective Communication and Trust-Building: Demonstrated excellent engagement and listening skills, fostering trusting relationships with children, families, carers, and government/non-government partners, always prioritizing the child's safety and well-being., Legal Expertise and Representation: Demonstrated extensive knowledge of legislation and confidently represented CYJMA (formerly Department of Child Safety Qld) in legal settings such as the Children's Court, Family Law Court, and QCAT. Actively participated in Child Death reviews, reflecting on practice and maintaining a curious mindset for continuous improvement., Network Building and Advocacy: Cultivated a robust network of professionals across government and non-government services. Known as a tenacious advocate for the families under case management, committed to ensuring every child's right to safety within their home.
• Acting Senior Team Leader, CYJMA, Beenleigh CSSC, 01/2019, 03/2019, (Intervention with Parental Agreement team/Children Under Orders) and (Long Term Guardianship team)., Leadership and Supervision: Provided strong leadership and supervision to a team of departmental officers in delivering collaborative frontline child protection services. Ensured compliance with legislation, delegations, policies, quality standards, and the Child Safety Practice Manual. Guided the team to maintain best practice standards, resulting in improved safety and well-being outcomes for children and families., Casework Management and Coordination: Allocated and supervised casework, demonstrating expertise in handling complex cases. Led stakeholder and care team meetings, fostering effective communication and collaboration. Managed day-to-day team activities, ensuring efficient service delivery., Strategic Service Development: Collaborated with the Service Centre Manager to develop tailored service responses for children, young people, families, carers, and the community. Worked with training and development specialists to implement and evaluate effective programs supporting service delivery. Established enduring service delivery partnerships across sectors, enhancing cross-sectoral participation and local child protection services., Team Culture and Excellence: Cultivated a culture of frontline service delivery, cooperation, and teamwork. Prioritized high-quality people management and commitment to excellence. Upheld a professional ethic, ensuring the service team aligned with departmental priorities., Active Participation and Quality Assurance: Actively contributed as a member of the CSSC Management Team. Engaged in quality assurance reviews of the Child Safety Service Centre (CSSC)., Expert Casework Guidance: Provided expert advice and decisive recommendations on complex casework matters. Assisted in coordinating client services, informed court decisions, and supported Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) teams in their formulation and implementation of recommendations.
• Child Safety Officer, Department of Child Safety, 03/2009, 11/2017, Child Safety Officer (PO3)
• Child Protection Social Worker, Rochdale Children's Social Care, 09/2005, 01/2008, Rochdale, United Kingdom, Managed cases within Children's Social Care Service, supporting Children in Need, those on the Child Protection Register, and Looked After Children.

Tracey Connor and Carrie Lapham.