Louise Jelks, ASGLB Data Lead for the Children’s and Social Care Secretariat

Where did you work before Coram-i and how long have been here?

I am a local government professional and have worked in different areas of Children Services including school place planning and pupil forecasts, early years funding programmes and childcare sustainability, school information and performance, and data and research. I made the move to the charity sector in 2018 working for CVAA as a Data Manager and Policy Analyst and joined Coram in July 2019.

What was it that made you want to join the team?

I transferred from CVAA when Coram-i was awarded the Children’s and Social Care Secretariat contract by the DfE. It was an exciting opportunity to be able to continue to deliver the ASGLB data collection and shape the delivery of the new contract, providing the much-needed analysis and reporting to support the sector and policy development

I am one of the original members of the team and it has been lovely to build and grow the team around the delivery of the secretariat.

Tell us about your job and what it involves?

I am the ASGLB Data Lead and manage the delivery of the quarterly ASGLB Child, SGO and Adopter data collection. I report to Board on system performance, publish the ASGLB data and Headline Measures, undertake data analysis and reporting and provide key facts and figures. I also support the work of the RAA Leaders and DfE colleagues with deep dive analysis and ad hoc data requests.

What’s the best bit of your job?

There is so many best bits of my job. I work with an amazing team within Coram-i who are all supportive, knowledgeable, professional and totally committed to improving the outcomes for all children. Collaborative working with colleagues at the DfE makes it a pleasure to work as part of the Secretariat.  I could not deliver a successfully data collection without the commitment of my colleagues in LAs, RAAs and VAAs who every quarter submit their data returns without fail.

No two days are ever the same and my work is very varied. One day I could be working on the data collection, checking data returns and data cleansing or writing up a report on a piece of analysis, and the next day I could be providing facts and figures for a press release, presenting at Board, providing the DfE with charts for ministerial briefings or attending meetings with RAA colleagues.

Knowing that the work I do helps to improve the system which finds our most vulnerable children their forever family is a really good feeling.

And the most challenging?

Most challenging is juggling the various strands of work and projects that the team is supporting whilst prioritising the data collection. There is always more analysis that can be done, a deeper dive into the data but sadly not always the time.  It can be frustrating when the data just can’t tell you what you need to know, and the analysis leads to more questions than the data can answer.

What’s the piece of work you’re most proud of?

There are lots of pieces of work I am proud of, most notably achieving and maintaining 100% return rate for the quarterly ASGLB data collection, securing agreement from the ASGLB to set up the Racial Disparity task group following the death of George Floyd, publishing adopter characteristics analysis to support and inform the recruitment of a diverse group of adopters, and using the data to focus the sectors attention of the cohort of children who has been waiting the longest for adoption

Finally, away from work, what’s at the top of your bucket list?

Like the rest of the world I want to start travelling again and there are so many countries on my bucket list. My Dad was in the Navy and was based in the Far East so I am keen to continue exploring the routes he travelled and the countries he visited.  I also would love to be at Cape Canaveral for a rocket launch.