Supporting children and young people during COVID-19 and beyond

A ninety-minute webinar featuring a presentation of an evidence scan conducted by Ernst & Young, in collaboration with the Oranga Tamariki Evidence Centre.

Speakers:

Sonia Sharp (Partner, Workforce Advisory and Government and Health Sciences Leader – EY) and Georgina Gates (Director, Workforce Advisory – EY) will be speaking about their research on international responses to COVID-19 for the care and protection of children and young people. Through an scan of eight jurisdictions, this research investigated how care and protection and youth justice systems had responded to the pandemic, focusing on the practical changes and innovations that services providers and agencies put in place and the impact this had on children and young people, their carers/families, practitioners and service providers. The research identified insights on the experiences of service systems as they adapted to the implications of the pandemic, a range of common themes in the way agencies had responded and the practical and innovative strategies employed, and identified opportunities for future learning and preparedness for service delivery, as well as use of data and intelligence.

Sonia and Georgie will present their findings and share both the research insights as well as examples of practical strategies for service providers.

Sonia Sharp, Partner, Workforce Advisory and Government and Health Sciences Leader – EY

Prior to moving into consulting, Sonia dedicated over 30 years to public service, with 17 years as a senior executive in the UK leading education and child and family services, and most recently as Deputy Secretary in the Victorian government. Sonia is a Partner in EY’s Workforce Advisory Practice, as well as national lead on public service workforce and COVID 19 response and recovery. She understands government well and is a shrewd and strategic adviser who understands how to bring about change in large and complex systems with multiple internal and external stakeholders. Sonia has a wealth of experience in strategy development, performance improvement, organisational design, and complex system change.

Sonia provides bespoke advice to state and territory governments across Australia. She brings extensive experience in emergency planning and response, and has conducted post-implementation reviews to assist organisations in understanding how well they have managed their crisis response as well as how they can improve future practice.

Sonia’s professional insight combined with a nuanced appreciation of public value means she can be trusted to provide objective and well evidenced advice, expressed in a way that is accessible and palatable to key stakeholders as well as practical to implement. Her clients often comment on her ability to bring a different perspective to tricky issues.

Georgina Gates, Director, Workforce Advisory – EY

Georgie is a Director in EY’s Workforce Advisory practice who works with government agencies and service providers to lead complex organisational change, design future workforce and organisational requirements and deliver major system and workforce reform. Georgie specialises in workforce and service system reform in human services and has worked across child and family services, child protection, family violence, mental health and disability to research practice and workforce innovations, design service system change, develop workforce strategies and build capability to adapt and manage system-wide change.

Georgie has also worked across transport, education, health, justice and defence sectors on workforce transformation and change in Australia and internationally. Georgie is also the Deputy Chair of the Institute of Public Administration Australia’s People and Culture Advisory Committee and part of EY’s leadership team for Organisation Design.

Register now to secure your place in the webinar.

This is the fourteenth in a series of seminars hosted by the Oranga Tamariki Evidence Centre Te Pokapū Taunakitanga. We partner with a range of social sector agencies to present current research and thinking.