A trauma‑informed public sector: lessons from Northern Ireland

Session type:

Talk

Presented by:

Helen McKenzie

Safeguarding Board for NI

Aileen McGuinness

Safeguarding Board for NI

Session time:

23 Sep 14:00 — 15:00

Session duration:

60 minutes

About the session

Theme: Trauma-informed public sector

Northern Ireland’s trauma‑informed journey led by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI) demonstrates how coordinated, cross‑departmental change can transform public services.

This session shares evidence, tools and practical learning from 7 years of implementation, including workforce development, organisational transformation and system-wide leadership.

Participants will gain concrete insights into building safer, more effective, trauma‑responsive public systems.

Participant takeaways:

a clear understanding of the stages of a trauma‑informed system journey
real world examples of improved outcomes and cost savings
practical tools and frameworks transferable to other regions
insights on governance, leadership and cross‑sector partnership essential for sustainable cultural change

This session is for:

public sector leaders
policy makers
system change practitioners
anyone designing trauma‑responsive services

About the speaker(s)

Helen McKenzie

Helen is the Director of Operations for the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI). Appointed for her expertise in child safeguarding, Helen leads in the provision of expert, professional advice to the chair, members of the SBNI, its committees and panels.

She is the lead for delivery of the SBNI’s strategic priorities on domestic abuse, online saftey and child exploitation and the embedding of trauma-informed approaches across the education, justice, health, social care and community and voluntary sectors.

She also chairs the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime, Benefits Realisation ‘Protective factors’ Group.

Helen began her career as a police officer with Thames Valley Police, working in child protection and adult rape investigation. Prior to joining the SBNI, Helen ran her own consultancy company specialising in programme management, organisational restructure and business process re-engineering, with particular interest in the criminal justice and public protection arenas; specifically, child sexual exploitation within Northern Ireland.

She is a graduate of the University of Warwick.

X: @safeguardingni

Aileen McGuinness

Aileen is the Trauma Informed Implementation Manager at the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI), where she provides strategic leadership to embed trauma-informed practice across government departments, public services and community partners.

With over 25 years of experience spanning the private, voluntary, community and statutory sectors, Aileen is recognised for her expertise in trauma-informed systems change, cross-sector collaboration and improving outcomes for children, families and communities.

Aileen holds a BSc in psychology and an MSc in applied psychology in mental health, and is currently undertaking PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner certification.

She began her career working with care-experienced children and young people and in community health and wellbeing, grounding her work in compassion, evidence-based practice, and partnership working.

Prior to joining SBNI, Aileen served as a director within the community sector for 10 years, where she led the successful transformation of Derry and Strabane community sector into a trauma-informed region. Her leadership helped establish a coordinated, whole-system approach to trauma awareness, capacity building and prevention-focused practice.

In her current role, Aileen continues to champion trauma-informed change at a regional level, supporting agencies to create safer, more responsive and more resilient environments for those impacted by adversity and trauma.

X: @aileenmcguinne1