Changing Children S Services

Changing Children's Services examines the fundamental changes that children's services have been undergoing in the United Kingdom in the context of the drive toward increasingly integrated ways of working. The contributors critically examine the potential and realities of closer integration and ask whether these new ways of working are truly more effective in responding to the needs and aspirations of children and their families. They also explore the experiences of working in constantly changing environments and their effects on practitioners and clients. This fully updated second edition offers a new introduction with a helpful overview of current key issues and new case studies to illustrate the realities of practice today.

This collection of 12 new and revised essays on child care and children’s services, written by leading child welfare historian Roy Parker, draws on his lifetime of research in this area. By exploring various topics these essays explain significant political, economic, legal and ideological aspects of this history from the mid-1850s. This unique and lasting review of child care services allows readers to understand how the services for some of society’s most vulnerable children have become what they are, how well they have met and now meet the needs of those children. The collection provides a high-quality, historical reference resource that will inform and capture the interest of social work and social policy students as well as social and legal historians, political scientists and those involved in administration and government, struggling with the issues of the day.

Vicky White and John Harris have drawn together the contributors' experiences of working with children in a broad range of settings, emphasising ways in which the current context of change can be used as an opportunity to enhance the quality of service provision and achieve better outcomes for children and their families.

Children’s Services: Working Together brings together contributions from a number of authors in the field. The book covers policy, theory, research and practice relevant to students and professionals working with children in a wide range of roles. The emphasis on working collaboratively with other professionals, where appropriate, and the holistic approach to children make this a valuable resource to anyone working with children today.

Family centres are designed to meet a range of day care needs for individuals, families or wider communities. This text details and evaluates expert research into the developing role of family centres in the light of political and social trends including, the Every Child Matters legislation.

Drawing on unique access to prominent policy makers including ministers, senior civil servants, local authority directors, and the leaders of children’s sector NGOs, Purcell re-examines two decades of children’s services reform under both Labour and Conservative-led governments. By closely examining the origins of Labour’s Every Child Matters programme, the Munro Review, and more recent Conservative reforms affecting child and family social workers, the impact of high profile child abuse cases, including Victoria Climbié and Baby P, are reassessed and the party-political drivers of successive waves of reform are revealed.

As welfare states grow up, they begin to think more carefully about their future. Jane Lewis is showing them how best to do so. This stellar collection of articles by top European scholars combines creative thinking about the new social investment state with impressive empirical research on specific forms of public support for family work. Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, US The nature of the relationship between children, parents and the state has been central to the growth of the modern welfare state and has long been a problem for western liberal democracies. Welfare states have undergone profound restructuring over the past two decades and families also have changed, in terms of their form and the nature of the contributions that men and women make to them. More attention is being paid to children by policymakers, but often because of their importance as future citizen workers . The book explores the implications of changes to the welfare state for children in a range of countries. Children, Changing Families and Welfare States: examines the implications of social policies for children sets the discussion in the broader context of both family change and welfare state change, exploring the nature of the policy debate that has allowed the welfare of the child to come to the fore tackles policies to do with both the care and financial support of children looks at the household level and how children fare when both adult men and women must seek to combine paid and unpaid work, and what support is offered by welfare states endeavours to provide a comparative perspective on these issues. The contributors have written a book that will be warmly welcomed by scholars and researchers of social policy, social work and sociology and students at both the advanced undergraduate and post-graduate level.

There is continuing emphasis on delivering services for children through 'joined up' thinking and integrated working. This fully updated new edition is an important practical resource for all professionals charged with planning, implementing and evaluating multi-professional teamwork and practice in children's services. The book investigates the reality for professionals behind the rhetoric of 'joined up' thinking and explores the perspectives of professionals about the impact of multi-agency teamwork on their professional knowledge and their ways of working. In addition it identifies dilemmas and challenges and presents exemplars of good practice. It skillfully combines theoretical perspectives, research evidence from the 'real world' of children's services and reflections on policy and practice in inter-agency services in England. Retaining its popular approach and reflecting the numerous changes to policy, practice and research the book: Exemplifies what multi-professional work looks like in practice Examines real dilemmas faced by professionals trying to make it work, and shows how these dilemmas can be resolved Considers lessons to be learnt, implications for practice and recommendations for making multi-professional practice effective As well as supportive guidance, useful theoretical frameworks and helpful evidence-based insights into practice, this new edition has been expanded to include a whole new section covering emerging themes in working together such as 'sexploitation' and children's 'front door' approaches to integrated working. Written by a multi-disciplinary writing team and without the use of unnecessary jargon, this book is a key resource for students on courses studying early childhood and families, as well as social workers, teachers, family support workers, health workers, and managers of a range of children and youth services.