Introducing
Community Operating
Group (COG)
Teams
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Early Help
Introducing the new Sandwell locality COG Teams for Tipton, Wednesbury,
West Brom (Central), West Brom (North), Oldbury, Rowley and Smethwick.
With effect from Monday 30 June, Targeted Youth Support and Early Help Services
will join together to become the Integrated Service for Families and Young People
(ISFYP). The new Integrated Service will be largely based within COG (Community
Operating Group) Teams based in seven locality offices.
Each COG Team is managed by a COG Manager and is staffed by a combination of
Early Help Workers and Targeted Youth Support staff who between them will offer
support to families and young people.
The new service will also provide more specialist support across Sandwell, including
the Family Solutions Team who will focus upon preventing family breakdown, the
Young Parent’s Centre, Youth Offending Service and focused support around drugs
and crime prevention.
Regular multi-agency COG Meetings will continue as the backbone of the new way
of working, bringing together professionals who work in the local community to share
resources and make sure that support is well targeted.
Our shared ethos is about placing the needs of children at the centre, taking a
solution focused approach to motivate and enable families to make lasting changes
that enable children to thrive and succeed. All workers will use the ECAF system
and share the same core skills, using outcome focused plans and the ‘outcome star’
model to chart and evidence the progress made by families towards goals that they
have agreed with the worker.
Early Help Social Workers, based in the seven localities, are available to offer
professionals (schools, health, voluntary sector, etc) access to ‘early social work
advice’ thus helping to reduce unnecessary referrals to children’s social care. COG
Teams can be contacted during normal office hours. Requests for early help support
should normally be submitted on an Early Help Assessment via the EH Desk. The
Early Help Social Workers can be contacted for general advice in each locality a
Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 09.30 and 11.30. If you wish to speak to
an Early Help Social Worker more urgently you can do so by contacting the Early
Help Desk at the MASH on 0845 352 8711/ 1838.
Leadership responsibility for the ISFYP will be shared by Charlie Spencer (Group
Head: Youth Services who is the strategic lead for the North (Tipton, Wednesbury,
West Bromwich North and west Bromwich Central), in addition to the responsibility
for ‘youth services’ across Sandwell. Tom Common (Group Head: Early Help) who is
the strategic lead for the South (Oldbury, Rowley Regis and Smethwick), in addition
to the responsibility for families support services.
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Early Help
Group Head (North): Youth Services
Charlie Spencer
Charlie has worked in Sandwell since February 2006, and is the Youth Offending
Team (YOT) Manager, ending gang and serious youth violence lead, troubled
families coordinator, and PREVENT coordinator. Charlie has an extensive local
knowledge of partnership working across Sandwell.
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Early Help
Group Head (South): Tom Common
Early Help
Tom joined Sandwell in April 2014, having held similar early help social work
management roles in previous authorities: the last of which was recognised by
Ofsted as delivering Good and Outstanding services to children and families.
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Early Help
Tipton COG
6-8 Unity Walk
Owen Street
Tipton
DY4 8QL
Email: tipton_cog@sandwell.gov.uk
Tel: 0121 569 7291
COG Manager – Kate Griffiths
Kate has a degree in Youth and Community Work. She has worked within the authority for
12 years in various roles within the Youth Service, Connexions, YOS and TYS. In the last 10
yrs Kate has been working within the criminal justice system setting up and leading services
in resettlement of young people being released from the secure estate, restorative justice,
reparation and setting up the new Out of Court Disposal in partnership with the Sandwell
LPU. She has extensive experience of partnership and family working to divert young people
away from crime.
Tipton COG Team Meet & Greet Event
Monday 14th July
10.30am - 12.30pm
3.30pm - 5.30pm
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Early Help
Wednesbury COG
(Located in Wednesbury Library)
Walsall Street
Wednesbury
WS10 9EH
Email: wednesbury_cog@sandwell.gov.uk
Tel: 0121 569 7294
COG Manager - Naomi Clarke-Huggan
Naomi has worked for Sandwell for nearly 10 years. She spent her time working with
Vulnerable Children and Young People in a number of occupations ranging from DECCA
Senior Worker to Specialist Team Manager within Targeted Youth Support providing her with
in-depth knowledge, skills and experience to provide support, advice and information to
children, young people and families as well supporting staff to contribute towards the Early
Help Strategy by identifying most vulnerable at the earliest opportunity ensuring a robust
assessment and action plan is in place to ensure a sustainable future for those we support.
Her passion for working with families to achieve better outcomes for their lives is a
combination of Naomi being a mother and having that innate maternal instinct to want the
best for any child as well as generally being interested in people and human behaviour
(Hence why she studied Psychology, Sociology and Counselling all at degree level). Naomi
is excited about new changes being implemented and looks forward to working with you all!
Wednesbury COG Team Meet & Greet Event
Monday 14th July
9.30am - 11.30am
3.00pm - 5.00pm
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Early Help
West Bromwich Central COG
West Bromwich Town Hall
High Street
West Bromwich
B70 8DT
Email: westbromcentral_cog@sandwell.gov.uk
Tel: 0121 569 7293
COG Manager – Claire Martin
Claire is a qualified Probation Officer with 11 years experience in the criminal justice system.
She is currently leading on Integrated Offender Management for Youths in Sandwell,
working closely with partnership agencies, including Probation and the Police. Her main area
of current supervision is the high risk and prolific young offender cohorts within Sandwell
area.
West Bromwich Central COG Team Meet & Greet Event
Friday 11th July
10.30am - 12.30pm
3.00pm - 5.00pm
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Early Help
West Bromwich North COG
West Bromwich Town Hall
High Street
West Bromwich
B70 8DT
Email: westbromnorth_cog@sandwell.gov.uk
Tel: 0121 569 7292
COG Manager – Suki Sian
Suki has worked in Sandwell for the last 8 years in the Preventative arena of Youth
Offending Service and Targeted Youth Support, for the first year as a Frontline worker and
then as the Prevention Manager.
Previous to this she has 10 years experience in Early Years and 4 years in Domestic
Violence and Refuge work. Throughout her working career have always worked in a multi
disciplinary team and have over 20 years experience of working with Young people and their
families.
West Bromwich North COG Team Meet & Greet Event
Friday 11th July
10.30am - 12.30pm
3.00pm - 5.00pm
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Early Help
Oldbury COG
(Located in Brandhall Library)
Tame Road
Oldbury
B68 0JT
Email: oldbury_cog@sandwell.gov.uk
Tel: 0121 569 7295
COG Manager – Victoria Bowles
Vicky is a qualified Social Worker and has extensive experience of working in front line child
protection. Prior to being a Team Manger for the early help social work team, she was a
team manager in Sandwell’s Referral and Assessment service. She also has experience of
working within a Safeguarding (long term) team in the role of Advanced Social Work
practitioner demonstrating knowledge, ability and experience of working in both short and
long term teams. She believes her skills of multi agency working and application of
thresholds is key to her new role as COG manager to ensure that children, young people
and families receive the right service at the right time in line with Sandwell’s Early Help
Strategy. Child sexual exploitation is a particular specialism and interest area of Vicky’s, of
which she is a key member of Young People at Risk of Sexual Exploitation or Missing
(YPSEM) panel. She also has experience in working with adults and young people who have
mental health and learning difficulties.
Oldbury COG Team Meet & Greet Event
Thursday 10th July
9.30am - 11.30am
3.30pm - 5.30pm
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Early Help
Rowley COG
(Located in Cradley Heath Library)
Upper High Street
Cradley Heath
B64 5JU
Email: rowley_cog@sandwell.gov.uk
Tel: 0121 569 7296
COG Manager – Rofia Noreen
Rofia has extensive experience spanning 13 years working directly with families and
children, managing people in a variety of family support roles and working in partnership with
other agencies to ensure a holistic support for families. She does hands on work with
families allowing her to see the positive impact that intervention has in the lives of families.
She enjoys her work and has learnt that safeguarding children is best achieved by taking the
child's entire environment into consideration. She worked with families intensively to tackle
anti-social behaviour and crime using a whole family approach. Working with families
entrenched in ASB and crime requires patience, resilience and building trust. Rofia is
persistent and successfully builds up trust even when families have shut the door in her face.
She could not have made progress without the support of colleagues. Team working is the
key to successful work with families and she is looking forward to working within a wider
team to continue to make a difference to families.
Rowley COG Team Meet & Greet Event
Thursday 10th July
10.00am – 12.00pm
3.30pm - 5.30pm
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Early Help
Smethwick COG
Hollies Family Centre
(From 17th July 2014)
Smethwick
B67 7DW
Email: smethwick_cog@sandwell.gov.uk
Tel: 0121 569 7297
Interim COG Manager – Denise Williams
Denise is a qualified Social Worker and has worked with children and families for the past 30
years. During this time she has held various roles within Children's Services across the West
Midlands including Community Worker, Social Worker, Principal Social Worker, Service
Manager (Independent Review Officer) Family Support Manager and Operations Manager
Early Help.
She has considerable experience in working with a wide range of client groups both adults
and children and is specialised in work with children and young people 0-18 years across the
spectrum of statutory services, children in need of protection, looked after children and more
recently Early Help. She is child focused in approach and committed to partnership working.
Smethwick COG Team Meet & Greet Event
Friday 18th July
10.00am – 12.00pm
1.00pm - 3.00pm
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Early Help