Chair named for "Bairns' Hoose" delivery programme

The chair has been named of the group charged with delivering the "Bairns’ Hoose" services to Scottish children involved with the justice system.

Val de Souza, a professional social worker who has worked for more than 30 years in the social justice sector, joins the programme's national governance group following the publication of a new project plan and revised vision paper by the Scottish Government to further the goal of ensuring access to Bairns’ Hoose for every child victim or witness who needs it by 2025.

Bairns’ Hoose services will be specifically designed to reduce the number of times children who have experienced trauma have to recount their experiences to different professionals.

Ms de Souza has spent the last five years as chief officer for South Lanarkshire’s Health & Social Care Partnership ("HSCP"), and director of Social Services. Prior to this she was acting chief officer for Stirling & Clackmannanshire HSCP and chief social work officer for these local authorities, which included responsibility for HM Prison Glenochil and HMP YOI Cornton Vale.

She was instrumental in introducing and implementing the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 and continues to have a keen interest in all aspects of public protection and social justice. She is also a non-executive director on the board of NHS Lothian, and a professional adviser for Positive Help, an Edinburgh based charity supporting children and families affected by HIV and hepatitis C.

Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans Keith Brown commented: "I warmly welcome Val de Souza as chair of the National Bairns’ Hoose Governance Group. Val brings enormous experience to the role and her appointment is a hugely important step to drive the project forward and deliver access to Bairns’ Hoose for all eligible children by 2025.

"This will provide Scotland with a child-centred approach to delivering justice, care and recovery for children who have experienced trauma. A similar collaborative, trauma informed and person centred approach will be adopted across the wider justice, health and children’s services sectors, as set out in our recently published vision strategy."