Director of Children’s Services at London borough takes chief executive role at Cafcass

Cafcass has appointed Jacky Tiotto, Director of Children’s Services at the London Borough of Bexley, as its new chief executive from Autumn 2019.

Prior to her role at Bexley, Tiotto was the Director of Social Care inspection development at Ofsted. She has also held senior professional roles, including as Head of the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit, Lead Professional Adviser to Professor Eileen Munro, and as the Lead Official to Lord Laming’s Review of Child Protection in England.

Cafcass said she would lead its social workers and corporate staff in “achieving the best possible outcomes for children, young people and their families who are going through the family courts”.

The strategic leadership role is accountable to the Cafcass Board, the Ministry of Justice and to Parliament.

Tiotto said: “Being offered the opportunity to lead Cafcass as their new chief executive is a complete privilege. I will take great care to do it well so that the lives and futures of children, young people, families and carers continue to be the greatest priority for all of us working to support them.

“The protection of children, the needs and experiences of families and the responsibilities of the State in this regard are issues of huge importance to our society and for me personally. Cafcass negotiates these issues on behalf of children within the family courts on a daily basis. The demand and complexity of the work cannot be underestimated and I am delighted to be able to lead the organisation and to learn from its work as we continue to give a loud and authentic voice to the children who need and deserve our help.”

Cafcass’ Chair of the Board, Edward Timpson, said: “We are delighted to have Jacky joining Cafcass as our new chief executive. Jacky was an exceptional candidate and has a wealth of experience from across many different areas of children’s services. Her unique insights, proven leadership and deep understanding of children and families will be vital to Cafcass as we continue to drive forward in our mission to provide an outstanding service for every child.”