Henry Smith

Henry graduated as a social worker in 2006. Following this he worked in various children and families social work settings before joining the Frontline Academic Team in 2016.

After graduating Henry worked for a Family Intervention Project (FIP) in Newcastle. Here he worked intensively with a small number of families, deemed to have multiple and complex needs. As caseloads were limited he really had a chance to form relationships with families and develop a systemic understanding of the issues that they faced. Working in this non-statutory setting also meant he was reliant on a relationship and theory based approach to social work and facilitating change, something that hugely influenced his practice in later roles.

Henry then moved to London and worked for Richmond Children’s Services, first in a referral and assessment team and later in a child protection team. Here he developed his interests in applying attachment theory and systemic practice in children’s social work.

Henry took the role as the consultant social worker (CSW) in Richmond in the first year of the Frontline programme, establishing what was then a brand new project. He was struck by how the core theories of motivational interviewing, systemic practice and social learning theory, coupled with the unit model, helped create some impressive outcomes for families. They also provided a rich learning experience for the participants he worked with.

Following two years in the CSW role he returned to the North East to establish Frontline in a new region, this time in the new role of Practice Educator. From September 2017 Henry will be relocating to the South East as the Practice Tutor for the Essex units.

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