Prevention in integrated children's services: the impact of sure start on referrals to social services and child protection registrations

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Carpenter ◽  
Sharon Brown ◽  
Michaela Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
The Impact

ICT-Enabled Social Innovation in Children’s Services

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Lara Montero ◽  
William Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Social Welfare Services ◽  
Shared Information ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
Ict System

ICT has become increasingly prevalent in the development and provision of social services for children and families. ICT has enabled social innovation in children’s services and the wider social services sector through its contribution to the transformation of service management and implementation, cost-efficiency improvement and the effectiveness of service delivery. ICT-enabled social innovation (IESI) can help to address the increased demand on social welfare services, for example through improved coordination between professionals and enhanced communication with service users. These changes are presented through a number of case studies of ICT in children’s services in Europe. One of these is the development of tools for data collection by the National Child Protection Observatory in cooperation with local authorities in France. Another example is the KOMBIT standardised ICT system for the case management of children at risk in Denmark. One further example is Alborada, a shared information system in Andalucía (Spain), which facilitates data sharing and coordination between professionals from health, education and social services working with children with developmental difficulties. The analysis of the case studies has allowed the formulation of some key recommendations for the development of ICT-enabled innovation in children’s services in terms of the role that policy can play in driving forward ICT-enabled services, ICT’s role in meeting children’s needs, and professionals’ training and development for the successful introduction and implementation of ICT in children’s services.

‘[Her] hostess … is anxious to have her back when she is cured’: The impact of the evacuation of children on wartime local services, England, 1939–1945

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-153
Author(s):  
Jonathan Taylor
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
National Policy ◽  
World War ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
North West ◽  
Looked After Children ◽  
Specialist Services ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
The Impact

World War II had a profound, but uneven, impact on the delivery of services designed to support the bodies and minds of English children. This article, which is based on a study of a rural local authority located in North-West England, explores the influence of World War II on children's welfare services. Drawing on detailed case files relating to individual children and reports published by local and national policy makers, the article advances three related arguments which together nuance existing understandings of the conflict and its longer-term consequences. First, the article argues that many of the problems associated with evacuees were already familiar to medical and social work professionals. This awareness has important consequences for how we conceptualise the wartime proposals that attracted policy makers’ attention. Second, the article shows that the arrival of evacuees into reception areas initially resulted in an expansion of children’s services. A fuller understanding of Britain's welfare state, however, must acknowledge that local authorities continued to wield significant influence over the delivery of specialist services once the conflict ended. As a result, the priorities of local officials could lead to the needs of looked after children being overlooked despite wartime improvements to children's services. Finally, the article argues that amidst the totality of World War II, the British state remained unwilling to intrude on the rights of parents to influence the care of their children. Closer examination of the implementation of evacuation and the experiences of individuals reveals that important tensions existed between the state appointed experts and the civilians they were tasked with supporting.

scholarly journals Coronavirus Pandemic (Covid-19): Delayed Consequences for the Prevention of Social Orphanhood

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-59
Author(s):  
G.V. Semya ◽  
E.S. Garifulina ◽  
N.V. Freik
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Expert Assessment ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Expert Analysis ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Families With Children ◽  
Delayed Consequences ◽  
The Impact

The article presents an expert analysis of the impact of the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Russia on the situation of families with children and the children, as well as the delayed consequences for the social orphancy system in Russia. The expert assessment is based on the results of sociological surveys of the child protection representatives, their opinion on the impact of the pandemic on the well-being of families with children and children in 9 regions, the analysis of individual organizations for orphans and children left without parental care. The data on the difference in the assessment of the situation of specialists and representatives of the non-profit sector are correlated. Conclusions are drawn about the strengthening of the “medical approach” in assessing the well-being of a child against social and personal needs, the lack of flexibility in organizing the work of the subjects of the orphancy prevention system during restrictive measures, as well as objective limitations of the remote form of providing social services and the unavailability of such services for certain family categories. The research was com- missioned by the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation.

scholarly journals Considerations in the use of local and national data for evaluating innovation in children’s social care

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oli Preston ◽  
Rebecca Godar ◽  
Michelle Lefevre ◽  
Janet Boddy ◽  
Carlene Firmin
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Social Care ◽  
National Level ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Infrastructure ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to explore the possibilities in using such national, statutory data sets for evaluating change and the challenges of understanding service patterns and outcomes in complex cases when only a limited view can be gained using existing data. The discussion also explores how methodologies can adapt to an evaluation in these circumstances. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the use of data routinely collected by local authorities (LAs) as part of the evaluation of innovation. Issues entailed are discussed and illustrated through two case studies of evaluations conducted by the research team within the context of children’s social care in England. Findings The quantitative analysis of LA data can play an important role in evaluating innovation but researchers will need to address challenges related to: selection of a suitable methodology; identifying appropriate comparator data; accessing data and assessing its quality; and sustaining and increasing the value of analytic work beyond the end of the research. Examples are provided of how the two case studies experienced and addressed these challenges. Research limitations/implications • Quasi-experimental methods can be beneficial tools for understanding the impact of innovation in children’s services, but researchers should also consider the complexity of children’s social care and the use of mixed and appropriate methods. • Those funding innovative practice should consider the additional burden on those working with data and the related data infrastructure if wishing to document and analyse innovation in a robust way. • Data, which may be assumed to be uniform may in fact not be when considered at a multi-area or national level, and further study of the data recording practice of social care professionals is required. Originality/value The paper discusses some common issues experienced in quasi-experimental approaches to the quantitative evaluation of children’s services, which have, until recently, been rarely used in the sector. There are important considerations, which are of relevance to researchers, service leads in children’s social care, data and performance leads and funders of innovation.

The Politics of Children's Services Reform

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Purcell
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Family Service ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
Local Agencies ◽  
Welfare Agencies

Comparative research has identified two broad types of child welfare system. In child protection systems the principal remit of welfare agencies is to identify and respond to actual or potential incidences of child abuse or maltreatment. In contrast family service systems are characterised by a stronger spirit of partnership between the state and families and an emphasis on working to prevent the need for coercive state intervention. This book examines the development of children’s services reform in England over recent decades to explain a shift from family service polices towards a narrower child protection approach. Successive waves of reform in England have invariably been framed as responses to high-profile child abuse inquires and media generated scandal including the cases of Victoria Climbié and Baby P. However, this book challenges the idea that it is the apparent failings of local agencies, including child and family social workers, that drive successive waves of reform. Instead, it turns the spotlight on the process of policy-making at the national level, and highlights the role played by party political leaders and senior government ministers in driving reform. The book is informed by 45 interviews with key decision-makers including ministers, senior civil servants, children’s charity leaders, local authority directors and social work researchers.

scholarly journals User Outcomes and Children's Services Reform: Ambiguity and Conflict in the Policy Implementation Process

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Implementation Process ◽  
Green Paper ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Most Significant Change ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Partnership Approach ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Distinguishing Features

The reforms to children's services in the UK brought in by the Every Child Matters Green Paper and the subsequent Children Act 2004 represent the most significant change in this area of social policy since 1948. The policy approach has two distinguishing features – an ‘outcomes led’ approach rooted in the views of children and young people about what constitutes ‘wellbeing’ in their lives, and a partnership approach that recognises these outcomes can only be achieved through high levels of inter-agency and inter-professional working. This article suggests that the two features may be in tension, and that during the process of implementation there is a danger that user defined outcomes will be re-interpreted to fit in with other organisational and professional agendas. The analysis draws upon Rick Matland's framework for exploring the impact of conflict and ambiguity respectively upon the implementation process.

Child Protection or Family Support — Directions in Family Welfare for the 80's

1987 ◽  
Vol 11 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Phillip A. Swain
Keyword(s):  
Family Support ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Continuum Of Care ◽  
Family Welfare ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
The Family ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
The Continuum

Child Protection and Family Support. These are two aspects of our work in family and children's services that have been much discussed over recent years. Can you protect a child whilst at the same time purport to support the family? Should the two functions be organisationally and structurally separated? Are they really just parts of the continuum of care and commitment which we all share in families and children? These and other similar questions have been frequently repeated during the first half of the 80's as we all searched for ways to meet the obvious deficiencies in the networks of families and children's services that had been established. But as we look to the remainder of the 80's there a number of critical issues which are well indentified but which we have yet to really come to grips with.

scholarly journals The Impact of Breakdown in Filiation: The Instance of Children Exiled From Reunion Island to Mainland France Between 1962 and 1984

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Feldman ◽  
Malika Mansouri
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Reunion Island ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Foster Families ◽  
Psychic Disorders ◽  
Réunion Island ◽  
Narrative Process ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this article was to show the consequences of breakdowns in filiation among people born between 1950 and 1970 on Reunion Island, who experienced particular traumas during their childhood. The research participants included 2,015 children exiled from Reunion Island to mainland France between 1962 and 1984 as part of a political project. Most of them we adopted, others were placed in foster families, foster homes, or farms. The forced exile was orchestrated by the French social services in charge of child protection (DDASS). Structured interviews were conducted for 13 people exiled when they were between 2 and 15years old. The interviews were transcribed and then analysed. The results show that these children were exposed to abuse in their filiation through a series of traumas. For them, this abuse is still active today as the French government has not yet acknowledged the suffering of these children. The participants displayed numerous psychic disorders linked to their abandonment. They are still experiencing difficulties in assuming their identity, and these difficulties are transmitted to the next generation. Analysis of the impact of these filiation breakdowns leads the present researchers to suggest a specific clinical setting, based on a focus group, in other words a group therapy aiming to generate a group narrative process.

Assessing the impact and implications for social workers of an innovative children’s services programme aimed to support workforce reform and integrated working

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-90
Author(s):  
Nigel Malin ◽  
Jane Tunmore
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Residential Care ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Children's Services ◽  
North East ◽  
Children’S Services ◽  
The Impact

This article reports findings from an independent audit and evaluation of an innovative children's services programme (CSP) funded 2009-2011 by twelve Local Authorities under the auspices of the North-East of England's Improvement & Efficiency Partnership (NEIEP) to manage improvements and efficiencies across the children's services sector focusing upon messages for social workers. The overall purpose of the CSP was to make demonstrable progress in tackling the challenges of child poverty by delivering high quality support to the growing number of children with social care/health needs through regional improvement. The key objectives of the CSP included supporting workforce reform and integrated working; development of personalised services; family support to reduce the need for residential care; and provision of tools to aid commissioners with needs analysis. The audit identified key outputs, for example, improvements to best practice on Whole Family approaches, safeguarding and leadership training evolved through a skills framework; and included a regional model of social work supervision training along with a provision of options to increase the range and quality of foster care placements. The evaluation considered actions arising from the above findings, including demonstrated improvements to inter-disciplinary working and pooling resources to produce better outcomes for families; setting up a data-base to improve the balance between fostering, residential care and family support; and creating opportunities for social workers to explore the practical implementation of using personal budgets.

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