Hector Independent Assessments Ltd

Curriculum Vitae

Pippa Hector

Qualifications: 

Diploma in Social Work 2001, Post Qualifying Child Care Award 2006,            Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Social Work 2006  Parent Assessment Manual (PAMs)  2002 & 2015, CUBS Expert Witness Certificate 2010,              Certificate in Attachment and Psychopathology 2011, conducting Remote Assessment (2020), ParentAssess Training (2023).

 Experience:

Prior joining a Children and Family Social Care Team I worked, for 8 years, for the Community Mental Health Team based in Glastonbury, Somerset, with individuals experiencing mental health difficulties. My role included working with families where one or both parents were addicted to alcohol and / or drugs and I supported placements at home where mental ill-health impacted on the parents’ ability to care for children or manage their daily lives.   Qualifying as a Social Worker in 2001 I joined a Child Care Social Work Team as a Social Worker and from 2005 Senior Practitioner. I gained extensive experience in initial and core assessments, work with children that are looked after by the Local Authority, kinship care and family proceedings court work, including adoption and post adoption work. Additional training included extensive attachment training, court skills, working with and assessment of families experiencing domestic abuse or drug use and parents with Learning Difficulties.

I started working independently in April 2008, specialising in independent parenting assessments and kinship care assessments. I have extensive experience in methods of working with families where learning disability affects their ability to engage with and understand an assessment; this includes parents who had additional needs such as Autism or mental health problems. I am trained to use the Parent Assessment Manual (PAMs) and ParentAssess and have developed a pictorial resource to support additional assessment to cover all aspects of the National assessment Framework.  I have completed over 120 independent assessments for Court and the feedback from professionals is that my reports are of a high standard, concise whilst thorough.  Professional development has included my Expert Witness Certificate (Cardiff University and Bond Solon) completed in 2010 and my Interest in attachment has continued with the completion of training, by Dr Pat Crittenden, in Attachment and Psychopathology (DMM).  

Registration:                                                                                                                           

Social Work England Registered No SW50130, Current DBS check. Member of NAGALRO. Member of UK Working Together with Parents Network. 

Curriculum Vitae

Sarah Lawrence

Qualifications:            

MSc Social Work (2010), MA Social Work (2019), Parent Assessment Manual (PAMs) Training (2023), Parent Assess Training (2023).  

Experience:                

I started working for Hector Independent Assessments in February 2023 and have since trained in the ParentAssess and Parent Assessment Manual methods of working with Families.  

I qualified as a social worker in 2010. My work experience spans the South West of England and I began my social work career in Cornwall, working in a duty team co-located with the Police Child Abuse Investigation Unit.  I moved to Bristol in 2012 where I initially worked as a Hospital Social Worker at St Michael's and Bristol Children's Hospitals specialising in pre-birth parenting assessment. This caseload mainly involved families with longstanding child protection histories, particularly drug and alcohol issues. Here, I worked alongside the specialist midwife team and drug and alcohol agencies. The cases predominantly involved acute high risk with complex medical needs which also included Non-Accidental Injury incidents as these presented to hospital. In 2015 I took the role of Deputy Team Manager at First Response, the central referral unit for Bristol. Here I was responsible for all threshold decision-making at point of entry and triage throughout the progress of the referral process as well as broader team management. Alongside this role I also worked as an Emergency Duty Team Officer managing out of hours section 47 enquiries across the surrounding counties of Bristol; North Somerset, BANES and South Glos.

In 2017 I moved to CAFCASS as a Public Law Guardian in the Family Courts. Here I work alongside children involved in court proceedings, enabling them to participate as fully as possible within proceedings and to ensure that their views are known and understood by the Court. It was also the Guardian’s responsibility to complete a case analysis of all evidence submitted to court and make recommendations around this. I remain employed by CAFCASS as an Associate Guardian. I have a breadth of other experiences that contribute to my knowledge base. Following completing an BSc in Ecology in 1998 I worked on a reforestation project in India before joining the National Geographic Cannel and later MTV news also working as a freelance journalist. In 2001 I started my own fashion label. As I became interested in social work, I went to work for Hackney Community and Voluntary Service in 2002. In 2006, I moved to Oxford and became a youth worker and from there progressed to statutory work with the Oxford Youth Offending Team before starting my social work studies in 2008.  

Registration:

Social Work England Registered No SW57441, Current DBS Check.