Tanya qualified as a Social Worker in 1988 and has many years’ experience in children’s services, especially within youth justice. Her many roles have included working in Western Australia for the Ministry of Justice, Cheshire County Council, Cambridgeshire and Essex Probation Services and more recently in Essex County Council.
Tanya has experience of leading rapid and successful mobilisation and implementation of single agency and multi-agency services. Notable successes include a social impact bond (SIB) to support children on the edge of the care system. She worked collaboratively with Social Finance and Action for Children to support families through using the evidence based interventions, known as multi-systemic therapy (MST) and divisionally based intervention teams (D-BIT). Tanya demonstrated excellent outcomes for young people at risk of entering the care system through the delivery of responsive family based services.
Tanya’s current role is Head of Youth Offending Service at Essex County Council. She is particularly concerned by the lack of suitable educational provision for many young people in the youth justice system and the lack of support for the 'edge of care' population. She firmly believes that this issue is substantial and that the lack of provision is too often leading to poor outcomes for young people who deserve better for their future.