Laura Bissell

Laura is an experienced social worker, having qualified with a BA (Hons) Social Work in 2010 and she has specialised in working with children, young people and their families. Before joining FRG Laura practised as a social worker in the North East of England, having held various roles working with care experienced children and young people and their families, including as a social worker, advanced practitioner, and team manager. In 2019 Laura received praise from the National Implementation Adviser for care leavers, for the service she developed for care experienced young people. She was a finalist in the Social Worker of the Year awards.

In 2021 following a care leavers’ focused visit by Ofsted, Laura was asked to present at their national conference to share her knowledge about best practice in supporting care experienced young people to achieve positive outcomes. Laura has led on many service developments including; the care leaver local offer, reunification, Staying Close and developing services for separated migrant children and young people, each of which contributed to an outstanding judgement from Ofsted.

Laura joined Family Rights Group in 2024 as a social work adviser. She is a member of the social work policy team and also provides social work practice expertise to family group conference and Lifelong Links workstreams. This includes project and policy work, development of bespoke practice guidance for family group conference and Lifelong Links coordinators and their managers. Laura has led the development of young people’s participation within FRG, working closely with care experienced young people to ensure their voices, expertise and ideas shape and inform Lifelong Links developments. She is a key contributor to Family Rights Group’s #BuildNotBreak campaign work.