Simona Boyadjieva

• Manage the Ongoing Child Protection Team of five caseworkers and one casework support worker to deliver both child protection (preservation) and Out-of-Home Care (from entering care through restoration and Guardianship)services to vulnerable children/young people, their families, and carers in the Tweed Heads area. • Motivate and support caseworkers to apply best practice through Individual and Group Supervisions, coaching, and mentoring. • Monitor multiple tasks such as review of legal documentation for restoration and Guardianship, monitoring progress towards Case Plan and Family Action Plans for Change goals, preparing Briefing Notes within established timeframes. • Maintain professional, organised, and safe environment for the staff in my team and worked collaboratively with Health, Education, Police, Aboriginal services, local Aboriginal Community, non-government agencies to ensure best outcomes for children and their families. • Monitor the successful implementation of the Interim Approach to ensure holistic Safety, Family Based and Measuring Change assessments. • Resolve staff member conflicts, by actively listening to concerns and finding appropriate middle ground and using my strong mediation skills. • Maximise performance by monitoring daily activities and mentoring team members. • Develop strong team culture focused on critique, reflection, engagement, collaboration, and continuous learning opportunities. • Ensure compliance with regulations and legal requirements by following practice mandates related to ongoing assessments of child/young person's safety and risk and all mandates for supporting children in Out-of-Home Care. • Define clear targets and objectives and communicate these to my team, the Leadership Team and Manager Client Services.

• Managed the Triage and Response Team of six caseworkers and one casework support worker in the Triage and Response team. • My team consistently met and exceeded the monthly face-to-face target responses and assessments of vulnerable children/young persons.

• Large number of Family Group and Pregnancy Conferences were held to ensure the families participate in decision-making for their children. • Worked in partnership with local Aboriginal communities and services, Health, Education, Police, NDIS and established "a team" between DCJ and community services to ensure best support for the children. • Maintained professional, organised, and safe environment for all caseworkers, and mentored two new caseworkers. • Applied Active Efforts in all engagements with children/young people and their families. • Maintained open lines of communication, and ensure high-quality casework and support for vulnerable children/young persons and their families. • Promoted a culture of inclusion and diversity in the work place and in casework.

• As an Acting Manager of Lismore CSC Ongoing Child Protection Team, provided management to six caseworkers and one casework support worker to deliver child protection and Out-of-Home Care services to children/young people, their families and carers in the Lismore area. • Created a cohesive team of caseworkers at a time when they faced a number of crises and challenges such as lack of office space and accommodation options due to Lismore flood in February 2022, and significant staff and resource shortages. I did this by establishing clear structure and providing consistent leadership and ongoing support for all caseworkers in my team. • Actively used professional supervision to identify issues, which may arise because of the complex nature of the child protection work. • Demonstrated sound time management skills whilst undertaking Case and Care Plans meetings, Family Action Plan for Change meetings, prioritised and allocated cases to ensure that caseworkers have realistic caseloads to achieve positive outcomes for children/young people and their families.• Demonstrated an adept understanding of the delegation structure and excellent ability to delegate and supervise tasks to ensure assessments, legal documentation and children/young persons' needs are met within timeframes whilst I recognised policy and considered the implication of the resource short in the CSC. • Used my adept mediation and negotiation skills to diffuse difficult or emotional situations involving staff or volatile clients. • Demonstrated excellent networking skills and have established a strong sense of collaboration and consultation within internal and external specialists and services to provide localised responses to improve outcomes for vulnerable children/young persons and their families. • Fostered strong working relationships among team members and I mentored new caseworkers and encouraged senior caseworkers to advance in their career. • Regularly evaluated caseworkers' performance in my team and conveyed constructive feedback during formal individual supervision and/or informal meetings to improve skills. • Initiated court proceedings and provided ongoing support and guidance to the caseworkers in my team and other teams in the CSC in matters such as court hearings and appeal proceedings. • Monitored the implementation of the Learning Performance and Practice training in my team to ensure that quality assurance practices are used consistently whilst applying Structured Decision Making tools. • Optimized resource allocation by conducting regular performance evaluations and providing personalized coaching for staff development.

• As an Acting Manager of Tweed Heads CSC Ongoing Child Protection Team, I provided management to seven caseworkers and one casework support worker to deliver deliver child protection and Out-of-Home Care services to vulnerable children/young people, their families and carers in the Tweed Heads area. • Managed and motivated caseworkers to be productive and engaged in providing best service for vulnerable children/young people through Individual and Group Supervisions. • Monitored multiple tasks such as review of legal documentation, monitoring progress towards Case Plan and Family Action Plans for Change goals, preparing Briefing Notes within I developed a strong team culture focused on critique, reflection, engagement, collaboration, and continuous learning opportunities. • Ensured compliance with regulations and legal requirements by following practice mandates related to ongoing assessments of child/young person's safety and risk and all mandates for supporting children in Out-of-Home Care. • Championed diversity and inclusion efforts within the workplace, resulting in an inclusive environment that fostered trust and accountability among caseworkers from various backgrounds. • I managed the team's performance efficiency through data-driven decision- making processes. • I maintained positive relationships with vulnerable children/young people and their families by addressing problems head-on and implementing timelines. • Managed and resolved disputes promptly, maintaining open lines of communication, and ensuring high-quality service delivery. • Resolved staff member conflicts, by actively listening to concerns and finding appropriate middle ground and using my strong mediation skills. • Maximised performance by monitoring daily activities and mentoring team members. successful corrective actions. • Established my team's priorities, maintained schedules and monitored performance. • Regularly evaluated caseworkers' performance and conveyed constructive feedback to improve their skills and for them to achieve their professional and personal goals. • Defined clear targets and objectives and communicated this to my team, the Leadership Team and Manager Client Services.

• Provided service to vulnerable children, young people and families and treated them with dignity and respect for their life experiences and cultural backgrounds. • In my engagement with families I followed through on actions that have been requested and I consistently based my interaction with families on Dignity Driven Practice. • Spent one-on-one time with children and young persons in Out-of-Home Care who were placed in Alternate Care Arrangement, Interim Care Model, authorised carer, relative/kinship placements, and actively sought the children's views and advocated for them. • Sought children's views regarding all important decisions and included them in Case Plans, Care Plans, affidavits, home visits, Family Group Conferences and Structured Decision Making Tools. • Successfully supported many parents to reach their goal of restoration and many children/young people on their journey back home. • My engagement and work with children/young people in Out-of-Home Care have been regularly audited by the Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement Team and have consistently met all standards.

• Led the Social Sciences Department, which included the following subjects - Geography, History, Social Studies, Media Studies, Digital Technology and Computing from Year 9 -1. • Taught Geography, History, Media Studies, Social Studies from Year 9 to Senior NCEA Level 3 (equivalent to Years 11 and 12 in Australia). • Developed new programmes and resources for all geography, History, Social Studies and Media Studies classes. • Created a Breakfast Club to provide support for a number of vulnerable students. • Students in my classes consistently performed above the average academic level for New Zealand secondary schools in their external examinations. • Students in my Year 13 History, Geography and Media Classes were successful in their scholarship examinations.

• Managed the Social Sciences Department, which offered History, Geography, Social Studies, Tourism and Media Studies from Year 9 to Year 13. • Taught History, Media Studies, Social Studies Years 11-13. • National NZQA Moderator for History, Geography, Social Studies, Pacific Studies - contracted by the Ministry of Education, Cook Islands. • Chairperson of the Curriculum Committee and a member of the Assessment and Quality Assurance Committee at Tereora College.

Taught English Language and Literature to Middle and Senior classes.

• Prepared students for English language standardised testing by providing strategies to overcome test anxiety and enhance academic capabilities.

• Managed day-to-day business operations. • Consulted with customers to assess needs and propose optimal solutions. • Trained and motivated employees to perform daily business functions. • Enhanced operational efficiency and productivity by managing budgets, accounts and costs.

•Provided ongoing direction and leadership for program operations. • Scheduled and supervised staff meetings to discuss new ideas and update participants on program details and milestones. • Collaborated with various teams to uncover issues, identify applicable solutions and offer guidance.

• Prepared, rewrote and edited pieces to improve readability and impact, prepared final copies for print by formatting files, deciding on trim size, making aesthetic decisions and reviewing book content and illustrations for style, grammar, accuracy and consistency.