This book highlights encouraging news about programs that produce better outcomes for disadvantaged children and families. It includes a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of the research evidence available on the effectiveness of these promising programs. Particular attention is given to programs with a demonstrated potential to prevent child abuse and neglect and family breakdown.

Recent government initiatives and developments in professional practice have been designed to help families in difficulty effectively, in order to prevent child harm. This book examines whether these changes have worked, by examining a large scale study conducted by the NSPCC and drawing out the main messages for practice and future policy. The research findings are set out in terms of children's and families' needs and expectations, agency interventions and outcomes, community context, measures and perceived changes over time. ? Highly topical - national priority designated by government ? Professionals are required to learn quickly about this and little information is presently available to them ? Clear presentation - lots of boxes and diagrams to be incorporated

This is the fourth annual report for 'Safe and well': Supporting families, protecting children'.

A practice focused guide that assists social workers and others to support families who need help with the task of parenting their children. This support may be required because families are lacking informal networks of support or because of professional worries about the levels of care parents or other carers are providing for their children.

This volume provides readers around the globe with a focused and comprehensive examination of how to prevent and respond to child maltreatment using evidence-informed public health approaches and programs that meet the needs of vulnerable children, and struggling families and communities. It outlines the system failures of contemporary forensically-driven child protection practice. Detailed guidance is provided about how to re-think earlier intervention strategies, and establish stronger and more effective programs and services that prevent maltreatment at the population level. Service user and stakeholder perspectives, particularly from marginalized groups including Indigenous peoples, highlight how public health approaches can better support families and keep children safe. Case studies from different countries grapple with the fraught nature of large system change and the various strategies needed to effect multi-level reforms. Presenting the reader with an array of innovative services used in different institutional and community context, this volume confronts the complex challenges found in implementing successful prevention programs that are aligned with diverse cultural and political environments and community expectations.

Focusing on children who are subject to welfare intervention, Protecting Children addresses the challenges and issues of the child welfare system and provides foundational knowledge on the theoretical and practical aspects of the field. This edited collection begins with a review of key concepts, including child development, attachment, and resilience theories; social policies; family law; and ethics. Highlighting the translation of theory into practice, the contributors discuss current services and the search for best practice internationally, as well as explore Indigenous child welfare and offer conclusions and recommendations to promote positive outcomes for children and families involved in the system. Scholars, researchers, and practitioners from across the globe provide insight on a wide range of timely issues, such as the risk of reductionism, limits to predictability, pragmatic issues, as well as the disproportional presence in the care system of minority groups, including Indigenous children, children of new immigrants and refugees, children in LGBTQ communities, and children of the poor. This foundational volume is an important resource for courses in social work and child welfare. FEATURES - includes contributions from researchers, practitioners, and scholars from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States - highlights Indigenous authors and personal stories of service users, and includes figures and tables throughout the text, as well as section introductions and conclusions to situate main theories and concepts for students

This volume provides a wide spectrum description analysis of the contemporary and well established child protection systems in a range of countries, such as Australia, Canada, Netherlands and Spain. It presents a brief orientation about the public and private systems involved in protecting children in each country. Further the book identifies current key policy and implementation drivers that orient the systems of child protection, such as children’s rights, family preservation, use of evidence and public health orientation. Finally it presents a critical analysis of the strengths and limitations of the systems, as well as, strategies for prospects for improving outcomes for children and their families.

The state is increasingly experienced as both intrusive and neglectful, particularly by those living in poverty, leading to loss of trust and widespread feelings of alienation and disconnection. Against this tense background, this innovative book argues that child protection policies and practices have become part of the problem, rather than ensuring children’s well-being and safety. Building on the ideas in the best-selling Re-imagining child protection and drawing together a wide range of social theorists and disciplines, the book: • Challenges existing notions of child protection, revealing their limits; • Ensures that the harms children and families experience are explored in a way that acknowledges the social and economic contexts in which they live; • Explains how the protective capacities within families and communities can be mobilised and practices of co-production adopted; • Places ethics and human rights at the centre of everyday conversations and practices.