Cath Dillon
Head of Innovation Projects
Cath leads a portfolio of large scale innovation projects across Innovation Unit’s children’s social care and health & social care consultancy work. Cath also leads a consultancy team and oversees the quality and impact of our project work.
Cath is currently leading the adoption and adaption of No Wrong Door across six local authorities: Manchester, Trafford, Stockport, Salford, Rochdale and Wigan as part of a wider Children’s Social Care Innovation Spreading and Scaling Programme in Greater Manchester. The programme is being funded by DfE to scale and spread innovation in children’s social care, building on initial work of Rochdale, Stockport, Salford and Wigan that focusses on vulnerable adolescents, edge of care and support to families with complex needs.
Since joining Innovation Unit Cath has worked closely on the DfE’s Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme which has supported and challenged over sixty innovation projects across the country with the potential to transform the children’s social care sector.
Cath’s background is diverse: a registered social worker, Cath has led transformation and change across a number of health, social care and community organisations large and small. Cath joined Innovation Unit in early 2016 from social enterprise Participle, having spent three years as a director building and delivering big strategic innovation partnership projects, scaling independent social enterprises focussed on ageing and families in chronic crisis. The golden thread running throughout Cath’s career being the belief in the ability for connections, relationships and networks of support to help bring about lasting change for people and communities.
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Innovations in children’s social care
The care system can be transformative, giving young people and their families the support they need at the most difficult points in their lives. But too many young people have a poor experience of the system and poor long-term outcomes, leaving care without the skills, relationships or emotional stability to ready them for adulthood.
Delivering asset-based services for young people
This time last week we took part in a conference hosted by North Yorkshire County Council to share how the No Wrong Door model has helped rethink care for adolescents.
Asset-based children’s services
We are supporting Wigan Council to develop a new residential and edge of care service that is inspired by North Yorkshire County Council’s No Wrong Door, and builds from their own ACT and Share innovations.