Trauma-informed practice requires an organisation-wide understanding of and commitment to trauma-informed approaches. This is an opportunity to explore some critiques at play within the field of trauma-informed approaches, and reflect on the interface between this approach to practice and issues of diversity, inclusion and equity

Dez Holmes is the Director of Research in Practice, a not-for-profit organisation that since 1996 has been supporting those who work with children, families and adults to use evidence in their practice and leadership.

Dez chairs the Advisory Group for The Staff College, which develops leadership capacity across local authority children’s services; and is a member of the NICE Implementation Strategy Group, and sits on a number of Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) policy committees and research advisory boards. During 2021-22 Dez was a member of the Evidence Group, supporting the Review of Children’s Social Care, and is also a trustee of Family Action, a large charity providing practical, emotional and financial support to families who are experiencing poverty, disadvantage and social isolation.