In highly unequal Britain, poverty and social exclusion continue to dominate the lives of users of social work and social care services. At the same time, years of austerity combined with welfare reform have changed the context in which services are delivered in a society roiled by Brexit, Covid, Black Lives Matter and women rallying under the banner, “Me‐too”. This fourth edition lays out the ways and means for practitioners to tackle the deprivation and destitution of service users. Fully revised and expanded, it introduces new material that tracks changes and developments in policy and practice. Statutes, benefit rules and relevant research are discussed as part of the necessary knowledge base for practitioners. Greater attention than in previous editions is paid to: local authority commissioning, the impact of social media on the mental health of young people, substandard housing and working with transgender youth. Preparing practitioners to engage directly with the social and personal circumstances facing excluded individuals and their families, this book explains the development of the concept of social exclusion as a framework for understanding the impact of poverty and other deprivations in users’ lives, and locates that framework within social work values of social justice while acknowledging the many challenges to those values. The focus is on practice throughout with boxed extracts from key policies and guidelines along with questions for readers to ponder through up‐to‐date examples, activities and exercises in each chapter. Case studies from public, private and voluntary sectors are drawn from across the United Kingdom, to illuminate the way forward for poverty‐aware social work. Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion will be required reading for all BA and MA social work degrees across the United Kingdom.

In the field of anti-poverty policies, the interplay between the Europe 2020 overarching strategy and the 'Semester' have marked major discontinuity vis-à-vis the Open Method of Coordination for social protection and social inclusion (Social OMC) of the Lisbon phase. This book therefore asks whether and how Europe matters in the fight against poverty and social exclusion by assessing the emergence and possible institutionalisation of a European multi-level, multi-stakeholder and integrated policy arena in the new institutional framework. Supranational developments, multi-level interactions, as well as the strategy effects at the national level are analysed in six European countries - Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, UK and Sweden – with the aim to identify the key factors affecting the implementation of the Europe 2020 anti-poverty strategy. This book will be of key interest to students, scholars and practitioners in social policy, political science and European governance, and more broadly to European Union politics, European integrations studies, sociology and economics.

This is an analysis of the potential of community-based financial services to reduce poverty and combat social exclusion in Britain. From this base, the authors move to a critical review of the outcomes of microfinance interventions around the world. They consider innovative economic responses to poverty in countries such as Bangladesh and Bolivia. Then drawing on their own research, they set out ways to counter financial exclusion in Britain; how to enable people to build assets and acquire capital, and provide mechanisms for the wealth retention in communities deserted by conventional banks.

Overcoming Information Poverty: Investigating the Role of Public Libraries in The Twenty-First Century considers the role of public libraries in alleviating information poverty and targeting social exclusion, using a three-level information poverty framework. The book proposes a model for understanding the concept of information poverty, develops indicators for its measurement, and provides recommendations for service improvement based on analysis of public library services at macro (strategic), meso (community) and micro (individual) levels. The topic is of theoretical and practical importance when considering the changing role of public libraries today. The book is the first time a macro, meso, and micro model of information poverty indicators has been developed and applied to illustrate the impact of public libraries at strategic, community, and personal levels. - Stimulates thinking and debate on information poverty and how it may be addressed by public libraries, education departments, and governments - Uses case studies to investigate how information poverty can be tackled at the macro, meso, and micro level - Focuses on how strategic policies to reduce information poverty filter through to community-based interventions within branch libraries - Discusses mixed methods, using quantitative and qualitative data, surveys, interviews, and focus groups with library users and non-users, to conduct a three-level investigation of information poverty

This fully updated and expanded third edition of a classic text provides a comprehensive introduction to key theory, knowledge, research and evidence relating to practice learning in social work and social care. It outlines the theories that underpin social care practice, the main assessment models and interventions, and also offers guidance on the effective implementation of assessment across a range of professional contexts. Contributors from research, policy-making and practice backgrounds offer guidance on how to apply policy and research findings in everyday practice while ensuring that the complex needs of each individual service user are met. This third edition also features new chapters on group work, social pedagogy and personalisation. The Handbook for Practice Learning in Social Work and Social Care is an essential resource for ensuring effective evidence-based practice which will be valued by students, educators and practitioners alike.