Miriam is the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for West Sussex County Council and is responsible for managing allegations against people in positions of trust, ensuring the process remains effective, transparent and meets the dual demands of both protecting children and ensuring staff subject to allegations are treated fairly. In West Sussex, the LADO provides consultation and advice to the process to ensure that the investigative response is consistent, reasonable and proportionate and that action taken is recorded in line with statutory requirements. Previous to this role Miriam worked as an Advanced Practitioner in the child protection and court team and as a mentor to newly qualified social workers. Miriam has worked on ensuring the voice of the child is heard in West Sussex and was part of a team which developed and implemented a direct work toolkit for social workers. Miriam has spoken at the Community Care Direct Work Conference and at Community Care Live and has co-written an article titled: Direct Work: ‘Not Just Child’s Play’ published in Community Care on-line.
