I talk with Dominy Roe who is managing director of Transfom Uk .
This interview with Dominy Roe explores how lived experience of the care system can shape a more compassionate, relational and therapeutic approach to residential care.
At its heart is a powerful question: what did children in care need then, and how can we create that for children now? The conversation explores how Dominy’s own experiences have influenced her thinking about what a children’s home should feel like — not simply a place where children are looked after, but somewhere they can experience safety, love, belonging and meaningful relationships.
A central theme is trust. For children who have experienced rejection, instability or relationships that have caused harm, trusting adults can be incredibly difficult. The interview considers what love and belonging look like in practice when a child may initially reject the very relationships and care being offered to them.
The conversation also challenges traditional ways of understanding behaviour. Rather than focusing solely on what a child is doing, it asks adults to become curious about what may sit underneath that behaviour. Shame, rejection, attachment experiences and fear can all influence the ways children respond to the world, while behaviours that appear challenging may have developed as important ways of protecting themselves.
This thinking connects with Transform’s development of a therapeutic practice model, exploring how a deeper understanding of children’s experiences can influence everyday care, relationships and responses.
The interview also recognises that therapeutic care cannot be separated from leadership and organisational culture. It explores the responsibility leaders have for creating emotionally safe environments and considers how the adults caring for children can be supported to remain warm, reflective and relational when the work is emotionally demanding.
Ultimately, the conversation invites us to reconsider how we see children living in residential care: moving away from defining them by behaviours, difficulties or experiences and towards understanding the child underneath — what has happened to them, what they may be communicating, and what they need from the adults around them.
It is a conversation about creating children’s homes where relationships matter, behaviour is met with curiosity rather than judgement, and children are given the opportunity to experience something fundamental: the feeling that they belong.
