Maura Dargan, Executive Director of Social Work and Divisional Director of The Children and Young People’s Division

Maura Dargan is Executive Director of Social Work and Divisional Director of The Children and Young People’s Division (CYP).

Maura is the Divisional Director for Children and Young People’ Division and the Executive Director of Social Work having taken up post in September 2019.

Maura has been employed by the Northern Trust since 1993 when she started her career in Antrim Fieldwork office as a childcare social worker. Maura moved to her first management role 5 years later within childcare/child protection and has undertaken a number of middle/senior management positions since that time.

Appointed children’s service improvement coordinator in 2008, Maua was responsible for leading on developments such as the creation of Gateway and the single assessment/planning framework for childcare social work. Maura has maintained her interest in quality improvement having completed the Improvement Advisor Professional Development Programme run by the Institute for Health Care Improvement in 2016.

Maura became Head of Service for Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS) in 2012 and led on a range of initiatives to improve mental health support to children and young people. Most recently Maura was appointed as Assistant Director for Child Health, Development and Emotional Wellbeing focusing on improving access to services and developing fully integrated Emotional Wellbeing Services for children.

As Divisional Director Maura has operational responsibility for family and child care social work (safeguarding and corporate parenting), disability, child and adolescent mental health service, Paediatric and Adult speech and language therapy, Paediatric Autism and Occupational Therapy, community paediatrics and services provided at the Rowan, which is the Northern Ireland Regional Sexual Assault Referral Centre.

As Executive Director of Social Work Maura carries responsibility for all issues relating to social work policy, workforce and professional standards, alongside ensuring the Trust discharges its delegated statutory social services functions and maintains a high standard of social work practice in all programmes of care.