While recent major policy initiatives have focused on the assessment and identification of need in children's services, this volume demonstrates the importance of understanding which child welfare interventions are effective and why. From exploring the evidence of the long-term consequences of need for children's wellbeing through to discussing national initiatives designed to address these issues, contributors from the JK, US and Canada present examples of specific interventions successful in addressing need in the three recognised domains of child development, parenting capacity and family and environmental factors.
Foreword. Preface. 1. Safeguarding and Promoting the Well-being of Children, Families and their Communities, Harriet Ward and Jane Scott, Centre for Child and Family Research, Loughborough University. Part I: Evidence of Need. 2. Promoting the Health and Well-being of Children: Evidence of Need in the UK, Fran Bennet, Oxford University. 3. Policies in the UK to Promote the Well-being of Children, Gillian Pugh, Coram Families. 4. The Impact of US Welfare Reform on Children's Well-being, Anthony Bibus, Rosemary Link and Michael O'Neal, Augsburg College, Minnesota. Part II: Effective Interventions to Promote Children's Health and Well-being. 5. Support Teams for Adolescents, Nina Biehal, University of York. 6. Catching Children as they Fall: The East Dunbartonshire Looked After Children Mental Health Project, Michael van Bienum, Andy Martin, East Dunbartonshire Council and Chris Bonnett, MRC Social and Public Health Services Unit, Glasgow. 7. Promoting the Health and Well-being of Indigenous Minority Children in Canada and Australia, Richard Budgell, Government of Canada, Mike Clare, The University of Western Australia,Jennifer Noonan, social worker, and Lynn Robertson, Health Canada. 8. Better than Being at Home: Disabled Children's Views about School, Clare Connors, Durham University, UK, and Kirsten Stalker, University of Stirling, UK. 9. The Voice of Young People: Reflections on the Care Experience and the Process of Leaving Care, Kathleen Kufeldt, University of New Brunswick, Canada, and Mike Stein, University of York, UK. Part III: Promoting the Well-being of Vulnerable Families. 10. Themes from a UK Research Initiative on Supporting Parents, David Quinton, University of Bristol, UK. 11. The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Programme and Breaking the Cycle: A Nation's Response to Programming for its Most Vulnerable Citizens, Judy Watson, Health Canada and Margaret Leslie, Mothercraft and Breaking the Cycle, Canada. 12. Promoting the Well-being of Children and Families: What is Best Practice?, Geoffrey Nelson, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. 13. Shared Family Care: Child Protection and Family Preservation in Action, Richard Barth, University of North Carolina, US, and Amy Price, University of California at Berkeley, US. Part IV: Promoting the Well-being of Vulnerable Communities. 14. Housing Issues in Child Welfare: A Practice Response with Service and Policy Implications, Bruce Leslie, Children's Aid Society of Toronto, Canada. 15. Searching for Impacts of a Community-based Initiative. The Evaluation of 1,2,3 GO! Camil Bouchard, National Assembly Quebec, Canada. Part V Conclusion. 16. Dude, Where's My Outcomes? Partnership Working and Outcome-based Accountability in the United Kingdom Mark Friedman, Fiscal Policies Studies Institute, Santa Fe, Louise Garnett and Mike Pinnock, North Lincolnshire Council UK. 17. Evaluating Interventions and Monitoring Outcomes, Jane Scott Loughborough University, UK, Terry Moore, University of Kansas, US, and Harriet Ward, Loughborough University, UK. Glossary. References. The Contributors. Subject Index. Author Index.
Chapters on UK projects would prove of interest to managers and practitioners. The chapters on measuring outcomes and a description of government guidance were particularly helpful.
