Our staff

Dawn Ives

Dawn has over 16 years’ experience working in childcare and is qualified with the Registered Manager Award, NVQ Level 3 and 4 in Child Care and the Assessor’s Award.

Dawn has developed her career with My Choice Homes, starting as Residential Support Worker developing and progressing within the care roles, to Acting Manager then Registered Care Manager at Kestrel House.

Dawn then progressed to Senior Management undertaking the role of Assistant Service Manager for three years, leading to Dawn’s most recent position of Operations Manager for over 6 years.

From February 2018 Dawn has undertaken the role of Responsible Individual for all the nine Children’s Homes within My Choice. Dawn is also a company Director who has Operational responsibility. Dawn oversees the care of the children placed in the homes and the progress they are making, Dawn is able to objectively oversee the children’s care by regular liaison with Registered Care Managers and working in partnership with the senior management team, who discuss the care of each child and analyse the performance of each home through regular meetings and the daily sharing of information. This information is shared back to the homes and staff teams so we as an organisation continue to strive to meet the children’s needs in the best possible way.

Dawn works closely with Ofsted, Local Authorities and consultant therapists, co-ordinating and managing the company referrals with other My Choice Directors and Care Managers. Dawn assesses young people with the relevant Care Manager to ensure placement matching and assessment is appropriate within the home. Dawn will co-ordinate with the Practice Manager and Team Manager’s to ensure all necessary records are completed within this referral process.

Theo Barclay

Theo has worked within residential services for young people for over six years. Previous to his current Acting Manager position at My Choice Homes he worked at an establishment providing care to young people with challenging behaviour. Theo has extensive experience in supervisory roles and leading staff members working in residential child care. Theo has worked as a shift leader, senior and deputy manager. Theo has achieved his level 3 diploma and is currently working on his Level 5 diploma in leadership and management and has commenced his therapeutic Practitioners Award. Theo’s experience and knowledge has enabled him to develop as an established practitioner and provide high quality care to the young people he works with.