Profile Summary

Helen Tully is a CORU-registered Independent Social Worker with over 18 years of experience in child protection, child welfare, fostering and family support in Ireland. She holds a Master's in Social Work from University College Galway and has worked across frontline practice, residential services, fostering and statutory team leadership within Tusla.

Helen's career encompasses four years as a child protection social worker, one year as a child in care social worker, approximately one year as a fostering support social worker, close to seven years in children's residential services, and two years as a family support worker. She subsequently served for four years as a Social Work Team Leader in child protection and welfare, during which she also assumed the role of Acting Principal Social Worker working with children at risk in the community and children in care with complex needs.

Her practice is child-centred, with emphasis on meaningful engagement with children, collaboration with families and professionals, and a holistic understanding of each child's world to ensure the best possible outcomes. Helen remains highly committed to the protection of children at risk.

Current Profile Areas

  • Independent Social Work
  • Guardian ad Litem
  • Child Protection
  • Child Welfare
  • Fostering
  • Family Support
  • Parental Capacity Assessment
  • Risk Assessment
  • Court Practice
  • Signs of Safety
  • Report Writing

Qualifications

  • 2007-2009Masters in Social Work, University College Galway.
  • 2001-2005BA in Applied Social Studies, Sligo Institute of Technology.

Career History

  • 2026-presentIndependent Social Worker, HAPii.
  • 2021-2026Guardian ad Litem, GALLORE Child & Family Services.
  • 2016-2021Child Protection and Welfare Social Work Team Leader, Tusla.
  • 2015-2016Fostering Support Social Worker, Tusla.
  • 2010-2016Child Protection Social Worker, Roscommon Childcare Services, Tusla.
  • 2010Medical Social Worker, Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar.
  • 2009-2010HSE Fostering HIQA Response Social Work Team, North Dublin.
  • 2008-2009Family Support Worker, HSE.
  • 2008Student Social Worker, HSE Roscommon.

Assessment and Court Practice

Helen has extensive court experience as both a social worker and a social work team leader, and has provided professional evidence in court for over ten years. She has extensive experience preparing comprehensive reports and assessments for the District Court and Circuit Court, and has provided training to social work teams in court practice and report writing.

Her assessment expertise encompasses parental capacity assessments, pre-birth assessments, comprehensive family assessments, risk assessments, practice audits, case collaborative audits, ability to protect assessments, Signs of Safety assessments and the formulation of reunification plans.

  • Parental capacity, pre-birth and comprehensive family assessments.
  • Risk assessments and ability to protect assessments.
  • Signs of Safety assessments and reunification planning.
  • Practice audits and case collaborative audits.
  • District Court and Circuit Court report writing and professional evidence.
  • Training social workers in court practice and report writing.

Team Leadership and Service Development

As Social Work Team Leader in child protection and welfare with Tusla, Helen gained four years of leadership experience, including assuming the role of Acting Principal Social Worker. During this period she was responsible for managing children at risk in the community and children in care with complex needs.

Helen contributed to the development of child protection services through child protection and children in care audits, advising on practice, policy and procedure development, and providing training. As team leader she was a member of the child sexual abuse assessment oversight group, the child protection and welfare governance group, and the child protection management auditing team. She also provided supervision training to the social work team.

Further Education and Training

  • Signs of Safety Practice Leader training.
  • Marte Meo assessment tools.
  • Child sexual abuse assessment training.
  • Trauma-informed practice training.
  • Attachment and relationship-based practice — Alice Cook, 2018.
  • Attachment training.
  • Practice teacher training, University College Galway.
  • Legal training — Child Care Act 1991, Children Act 2001 and Children First.
  • Supervision training, Tusla.
  • People management: the legal framework, Tusla.
  • Report writing training.
  • Working with cultural diversity.
  • Anti-discriminatory practice training.
  • Multicultural training.

Publications

Registration and Clearance

  • Registered with CORU.
  • Full Garda clearance.

Contact Helen

For enquiries connected to Helen's work with HAPii, email Helen directly.

Email Helen
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