Founder & Assessor/Trainer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm Matt Vincent, founder of Independent Migrant Services and a Registered Social Worker (SW35797) with over 25 years' experience in children's services.

My career has spanned frontline child protection, fostering, safeguarding management, and strategic leadership. I spent a decade with a local authority Children's Asylum Team — first as a Senior Social Worker, then as Team Manager for eight years, leading a multidisciplinary specialist team working exclusively with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. That sustained, direct experience of the pressures, complexities, and legal landscape of UASC work is what IMS is built on.

I established Independent Migrant Services to provide specialist Merton-compliant age assessments, training, and consultancy to local authorities, legal firms, and practitioners across the UK. All assessments are conducted in accordance with Social Work England Professional Standards, current statutory guidance, and established case law, and I am an active member of the British Association of Social Workers.

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Associate Assessor/Trainer

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David Christie-Davies is an Associate Assessor at Independent Migrant Services and a Registered Social Worker (SW23127) with over 25 years' experience in youth, community, and social care.

David holds a Diploma in Youth and Community Work, BA (Hons) in Community Education (University of Kent), Diploma in Social Work (University of London), Post-Qualifying Award in Social Work, Child Care Award, and Graduate Certificate in Practice Assessing (University of Chichester). He is also a qualified practice educator, with extensive experience supervising and mentoring student social workers, and has worked as an associate lecturer at the University of Chichester teaching and assessing aspiring social work students.

His career has focused on child protection, children in care, and care leavers, with over 15 years' experience working with children from diverse backgrounds including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and children from abroad. This includes conducting age assessments and developing targeted interventions for this specialist group.

David currently holds an Advanced Social Worker role within a local authority Children's Asylum Team, where he continues to develop his expertise in this specialist field. He brings that live, frontline practice experience directly to his work as an IMS associate assessor.

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​Associate - Psychological Therapist

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Naomi Law is an Associate at Independent Migrant Services, bringing specialist psychological and therapeutic expertise to IMS's work with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and care leavers.

Naomi is an experienced Psychological Therapist and Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist with over two decades of practice. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Psychology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling, an MSc in Applied Psychology, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy, and has completed specialist training in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) for both adults and children.

Her career has spanned a range of psychology positions since 1995, including ten years within the NHS. She specialises in providing counselling and psychological therapy for looked-after children and care leavers, with a deep understanding of the trauma, displacement, and transition these young people navigate.

Naomi's therapeutic background and specialist knowledge of trauma in young people complements IMS's practice-based assessment expertise, ensuring a fully trauma-informed approach across all aspects of IMS's work. Further information about Naomi's independent practice is available at Brighton Therapy Room.

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