Sheena Adelusi

Sheena, a 2017 Social Work BA and 2021 International Social Policy MA graduate, is an Independent Social Work & Safeguarding Consultant. Her time at Kent, where she built lasting friendships and developed her career in social work, laid the foundation for her success.

A career highlight includes managing Kent County Council’s Adolescent Support Team, where she improved outcomes and boosted team morale. Sheena aspires to produce more eBooks, deliver training, and influence social policy through a trauma-informed lens.

Tell us about your career path since graduation.

When I graduated in 2017 with a degree in Social Work, I remained with the Children and Families Long-Term Team at Kent County Council, where I had completed my final 100-day student placement. I practiced there as a Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) and successfully completed my ASYE, continuing in the role until August 2019.In September 2019, I enrolled part-time in a Master’s program in International Social Policy at Kent while working part-time. My professional experiences during and after this period include:

• Hospital Social Worker: Worked two days a week in a low-secure mental health hospital for girls aged 12–18, supporting them over a span of 1.5 years while completing my Master’s degree.
• Independent Form F Assessor: Conducted assessments and prepared suitability reports for prospective foster carers across the South East region.
• Freelance Work (2021–2022):
• Investigated safeguarding incidents for semi-independent accommodation providers supporting young people in care of the local Authority.
• Co-authored a Child Safeguarding Practice Review (CSPR) for a London borough.
• Senior Practitioner and Manager (October 2021–May 2024): Returned to Kent County Council in the Adolescent Support Team, working in social work, referrals, and long-term case management. I progressed within the service to a management role before leaving for maternity leave in May 2024.

Currently, I am freelancing and hope to do this full-time to allow flexibility to care for my two children while continuing to make a meaningful impact by supporting others and doing what I love.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

Currently, as I transition to running my business and freelancing full-time, my workdays are flexible and dynamic. I create and deliver training and workshop materials tailored to the social care sector, offer external supervision sessions to organizations, and provide mentoring and coaching for social work students, apprentices, and practitioners. In November 2024, I published my first eBook on writing child and family assessments in social work, and I plan to release additional eBook guides in 2025 to further support practitioners in the field.

Previously, as a manager of the adolescent support team, my days were fast-paced and highly structured. On a typical day, I chaired 3–5 meetings, quality-assured and signed off assessments and reports for families open to our team, and conducted monthly audits. I supervised a team of eight, providing daily support and monthly personal supervision to each team member. Also, I coordinated multi-agency meetings and reviews for complex interventions involving young people and their families or carers. This required close collaboration with various partner agencies and colleagues within Kent County Council, including independent review officers, child protection chairs, semi-independent or residential children’s home providers, mental health services, hospitals, police departments, and other local authorities.

Can you share a professional highlight from your career so far?

Managing the adolescent team has been a highlight because on paper, others may have deemed me as not qualified long enough to take on this particular team that had chronic staffing issues for last 2 years and generally, is one of the larger patches (multiple areas) to cover across the sections of Kent. But I was able to sustain the team, boost morale, improve some practice outcomes and feedback from the team were all positive in the sense of them feeling supported, invested in and guided with a calm approach in the midst of crisis. The achieving good outcomes and maintaining my own ethical practice standards is a highlight, but more than that is the way those I managed and worked alongside felt with me.

How did your time at Kent help you achieve your current career?

Kent was my saving grace! I came to Kent to study Social Work after failing my core statistics module in Psychology BSc at Surrey university. Kent was where I made a new set of friends who continue to be close friends today; found a church that I thrived in and helped me pour back into the community and experience God in a new way; finish Social Work - which has been my career in the last 7.5 years, giving me the wealth of experience and knowledge that I have to date. My Masters was also a good addition and experience though I haven't done anything explicitly linked to International Social Policy ....YET :)

What advice would you give to our current/prospective students who are looking to get into the same line of work?

Broaden your horizons, Social Work is such a great and holistic degree because there are a breadth of things you can do with this degree even if it is for your own personal and self-development in general life! It is advised to just do your additional supported year in practice, particularly children- and it is great advice but it doesn't mean everyone has to.

Go for where your heart truly is and this may be with an NGO, in a hospital, in another sector entirely. This field is not for the faint hearted and I advise against just going into social work because it can be fairly lucrative depending on your progress and area of reach. This is for people that care, and those who go into it for ulterior motives end up very miserable and/or damaging the reputation of the whole practice entirely and/or practitioners that do care.

Did you get involved in any extracurricular activities as a student?

• Christian fellowship.
• Church leadership - Pastoral care lead & safeguarding lead; women’s group co-lead.
• Few campus activities such as ACS.
• Gym if that counts.

Do you have a favourite memory from your time at Kent?

Too many to list!

Is there anything you would do differently if you could repeat your time at Kent?

I don't think so.

Are you still in touch with other Kent alumni or academics?

Yes, a few.

What are your future ambitions?        

• LBL charity & rehabilitation homes for young people and adults who have been sexually exploited, abused, trafficked.
• Go into social policy in this area.
• Advise governments and institutions on restorative practice and relating to people from a trauma-informed & responsive lens (recognising the diverse impacts of trauma on humans, how this presents and how we can relate to people given this context).
• Produce more eBooks and guides.
• Deliver training, workshops and clinical supervision sessions to individuals and organisations such as churches, local authorities, charities.