Donna McEwan (she/her)
Practice Development Advisor
Donna is a member of the Practice Team at the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ), where she has worked in a national role since May 2016. At CYCJ, Donna has contributed to national research, policy and practice development on bail and remand, early and effective intervention, and the assessment, management and reduction of the risk of serious harm. She led the Whole System Approach work prior to moving into specific projects on Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Secure Care, and addressing the Criminal Exploitation of Children.
A qualified social worker since 2006, she brings broad experience across children and families and justice. Her contribution brings together child protection, risk of harm and justice perspectives, helping to identify where pathways, thresholds and shared accountability need to be clearer. It prioritises continuity of relationships, family involvement, education and meaningful participation in decisions. This work is grounded in the view that Scotland’s future approach must reflect what children, families, practitioners and wider partners say is needed, and the values within GIRFEC, the UNCRC and The Promise. Through Reimagining Secure Care, Donna has used service design, systems thinking and multi-agency engagement to help shape a rights-upholding vision for how Scotland supports children in, and on the edges of, secure care. The work sees secure care as a much more dynamic part of the continuum of support existing within children’s communities including prevention, flexible and intensive community-based help, and safe, well-planned transitions. All of which holds the child and their family at the core. It seeks to reduce unnecessary moves, restriction and criminalisation, while ensuring that any deprivation of liberty is in accordance with child rights.
Donna has also played a central role in Scotland’s work on criminal exploitation of children. Working closely with Action for Children, she has advocated for criminal exploitation to be understood as child abuse and responded to through child protection, rather than through the criminalisation of exploited children. She co-developed Scotland’s Framework for Practice and Toolkit, supporting services to identify exploitation, respond early, protect children and disrupt those responsible for causing harm. Her work includes international learning and collaboration, including through her involvement with the Child Friendly Justice European Network. She shares Scottish learning while drawing on research and practice from elsewhere to challenge assumptions and strengthen rights-based responses for children.