Our People

Our team brings together leading experts in children’s social care in the UK, as well international experts in outcomes management and related research practices.

Core Operational Team

Dr Emma Woodward - Director of Operations

Dr. Emma Woodward is a renowned Psychologist with over two decades of leadership experience in the mental health sector, spanning the UK and New Zealand. Emma’s career is dedicated to driving transformative change for children, adolescents, and families through evidence-based therapeutic practices that foster resilience and deliver measurable results across public and charitable sectors. Her expertise includes large-scale program implementation, mental health strategy, and cross-sector collaboration, making her a trusted advisor to schools, local authorities, and organisations aiming to improve mental health assessments and interventions.

As the Director of Operations at OOC, Emma spearheads nationwide projects and oversees strategic initiatives that deliver tailored, impactful services. Her leadership is grounded in a commitment to empowering communities. Her innovative, collaborative approach ensures the successful rollout of sustainable, supportive systems that promote long-term positive mental health outcomes at scale.

Charlie Whitfield - Project Management Lead

Charlie Whitfield has a strong foundation in psychology and social care across the UK and New Zealand. He has dedicated his career to implementing meaningful, child-centred change for children, young people, and families through evidence-based, strength-based approaches. With a Master of Science in Psychology from the University of Auckland, Charlie’s academic research explored the impact of social media use on young people’s well-being. Charlie is passionate about using research-backed strategies and cross-sector collaboration to drive systemic improvements that deliver lasting, positive outcomes for children and families.

At OOC, Charlie is the Special Projects Officer and Project Management Office Lead, managing national projects focused on improving outcomes in children’s social care. He oversees the implementation of evidence-based tools; managing project timelines, streamlining internal systems and fostering collaboration between stakeholders. Charlie also researches and gathers feedback to ensure initiatives are ethical, sustainable, and aligned with best practices.  

Our Specialist Team

Professor John Lyons - Founder of Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM) and developer of Communimetric assessments

John S. Lyons, Ph.D. is the founding Director of the Center for Innovation in Population Health at the University of Kentucky and a Professor of Health Management and Policy in the College of Public Health.   After receiving his doctorate in Clinical Psychology and Statistics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, he completed a National Service Award in Mental Health Services Research at the University of Chicago.   He spent 24 years at Northwestern University becoming a Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine and the founding Director of the Mental Health Services and Policy Program.  After six years as the Endowed Chair of Youth Mental Health at the University of Ottawa, he returned to Chicago as a Senior Policy Fellow at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago until moving to Lexington in 2019.  He has developed the only theory-based approach to outcomes management, Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM) and collaborative assessment tools to support this system management approach, most notably the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS).  In 2023, the CANS and TCOM approach will touch the lives of nearly 90% of all children and adolescents served in child welfare or public behavioral health in the United States.  There are implementation on every continent except Antarctica.  He has published more than 250 peer reviewed articles and nine books including Redressing the Emperor:  Improving our children's public behavioral health system, Communimetrics.  A communication theory of measurement in human services, and most recently Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM). Managing the business of personal change. 

Lauren Mergen - Distance Learning Director

Lauren is Distance Learning Director of the TCOM Training website, which provides training and certification in the TCOM tools to 135 K+ users annually.

Lauren is also Program lead of the Instructional Design in Educational Advances (IDEA) program, which provides educational content in fun and engaging mediums like online courses and YouTube Videos while also spreading the word about our work via social media.

Dr Olga Vsevolozhskaya - Precision Analytics and Reporting

Dr. Vsevolozhskaya is a Research Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Assistant Director of Precision Analytics at the Center for Innovation in Population Health (IPH-C), University of Kentucky. She received her PhD from Montana State University (2013), and post-doctoral education from Michigan State University (2015). She has extensive experience as an educator, independent and collaborative scientist, and most recently administrator. Her initial research interests focused on developing advanced statistical methods for genetic association studies. Since joining IPH-C in 2020, she applied her research accomplishments to study patterns in CANS assessments data, as she considers them to represent a ‘behavioral health genome’ of an individual. In 2022, she transferred her primary research responsibilities from an individual investigator to an Assistant Director of Precision Analytics, a core lab of data analysts with responsibilities for coordination of biostatistical collaboration with multiple IPH-C partners.

Mark Lardner - Senior Policy Analyst

Mr. Lardner is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Innovation in Population Health at the University of Kentucky providing training, technical assistance, and data analysis for systems implementing Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM).   Mr. Lardner is the former director of the CANS-NY Institute for the Health Homes Serving Children (HHSC) in the State of New York.  Additionally, Mark directed the implementation of CANS for the State of Maryland while working at the Institute for Innovation and Implementation at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. He was awarded a Praed Foundation Outcomes Champion Award in 2013 for co-founding the National TCOM Collaborative.  Mr. Lardner worked directly with children and families in the child welfare system and the education system in Maryland and New York City.  He earned his MSW from the University of Maryland and his BA from Fairfield University.

Our Trustees

Mark Owers

Mark Owers is a highly respected advisor and consultant in children’s social care, fostering, adoption, and youth justice, recognised for his substantial track record in driving public sector reform and promoting regional collaboration. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with government agencies, local authorities, and voluntary organisations to improve service delivery and achieve better outcomes for vulnerable children and families.

With a background as a registered social worker and hands-on experience in management and directorship in children’s services, Mark brings both strategic insight and practical expertise. His approach emphasises sustainable, evidence-based solutions and system-wide transformation to ensure that children’s needs are prioritised at every level of policy and practice. Mark’s work is widely respected for seamlessly blending hands-on experience with strategic insight, keeping children’s needs at the heart of decision-making in both policy and practice.

Jeremy Penny

Jeremy Penny is a highly experienced Family Lawyer with nearly 30 years of dedicated service within the family justice system. After qualifying as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court, Jeremy began his career supporting families in resolving private family matters, honing his skills in negotiation and dispute resolution.

He later transitioned into Public Law, where he became a trusted advocate for Children’s Services, representing local authorities in complex cases involving child protection and welfare. Jeremy’s extensive experience spans all levels of the legal justice system, from the Magistrates' Court to the Supreme Court, giving him a unique perspective on the intricacies of family law. A passionate advocate for the rights of children, Jeremy is deeply committed to ensuring their voices are heard and their best interests upheld. His expertise and unwavering dedication have made him a respected figure within the legal and local authority communities.

Dr Mark Kerr

Mark was a founder of the Institute of Recovery from Childhood Trauma before moving to The Centre for Outcomes of Care to lead the introduction of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment to the UK. Mark is currently Chief Executive Officer at The Children's Homes Association, responsible for leading the development and implementation of evidence-based solutions for children's homes in England and Wales. He also represents the residential sector on DfE, NHSE, and Ofsted expert advisory groups. 

Mark has been working in children’s social care for over 20 years. His career began in mental health before he returned to the University of Kent as an ESRC-funded PhD candidate, where he completed one of the most extensive studies into the outcomes of children in care titled: ‘Evidence-Based Policy: The Case of Looked After Children. At the end of his PhD, Mark was seconded to the Scottish Government to lead on developing their outcome framework for children in care.He then returned to research and lecturing for several years at the University of Kent, focusing on Social Work and Social Policy,