Services for families and children are rightfully the focus of intense scrutiny and debate, and there is a clear need to establish a knowledge of which services work well. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of research evidence from the UK and USA on the effectiveness of selected child welfare interventions. It addresses the challenges of measuring effectiveness in child welfare and explains the policy context for child welfare service delivery. Leading international contributors summarize the evidence of effectiveness in each core area, and consider the impact on children's development, parenting capacity and the wider community. Critically, the book also draws out the implications of the evidence for policy, practice and service delivery as well as for future research. This book is essential reading for policy makers, practitioners and commissioners of services in child welfare as well as students and researchers.

Improving the well-being of children is more effective when social care professionals work with the children's parents, families and communities. This collection brings together innovative interventions designed to nurture children's health and welfare, and analyses which types of programmes are most effective and why. The contributors explore the impact of poverty on children's development and assess national initiatives set up to assess and reduce need. They present examples from the UK, US, Canada and Australia of specific interventions to counter or prevent difficulties in the domains of child development, parenting capacity and wider environmental factors. Many contributions demonstrate the importance of engaging with service users and helping communities to shape and direct their own programmes for change. The final section of the book presents useful approaches to assessing and evaluating services. Demonstrating the need for close inter-agency collaboration and `joined up' services, this book is essential reading for policy makers, managers and practitioners in child welfare agencies, and social work academics and students.

Child poverty and the well-being of children is an important policy issue throughout the industrialised world. Some 47 million children in 'rich' countries live in families so poor that their health and well-being are at risk. The main themes addressed are: · the extent and trend of child poverty in industrialised nations; · outcomes for children - for example, the relationship between childhood experiences and children's health; · country studies and emerging issues; · child and family policies. All the contributions underline the urgent need for a comprehensive policy to reduce child poverty rates and to improve the well-being of children. Findings are clearly presented and key focus points identified for policy makers to consider.

Children's health has clearly improved over the past several decades. Significant and positive gains have been made in lowering rates of infant mortality and morbidity from infectious diseases and accidental causes, improved access to health care, and reduction in the effects of environmental contaminants such as lead. Yet major questions still remain about how to assess the status of children's health, what factors should be monitored, and the appropriate measurement tools that should be used. Children's Health, the Nation's Wealth: Assessing and Improving Child Health provides a detailed examination of the information about children's health that is needed to help policy makers and program providers at the federal, state, and local levels. In order to improve children's health-and, thus, the health of future generations-it is critical to have data that can be used to assess both current conditions and possible future threats to children's health. This compelling book describes what is known about the health of children and what is needed to expand the knowledge. By strategically improving the health of children, we ensure healthier future generations to come.

Ross here presents an original and controversial look at the moral principles that guide parents in making health care decisions for their children, and the role of children in the decision-making process. She opposes the current movement to increase child autonomy, in favor of respect for family autonomy and proposes significant changes in what informed consent allows and requires for pediatric health care decisions. The first systematic medical ethics book that focuses specifically on children's health care, Ross's work has important things to say to health care providers who work with children as well as to ethicists and public policy analysts.

Dramatic societal changes have reshaped America’s families. Young adults have delayed marriage, and cohabitation before marriage has become commonplace. One in three women giving birth is unmarried, and the proportion of children under 18 living in single-parent families rose from 23 to 31 percent between 1980 and 2000, reflecting increased rates of both nonmarital childbearing and divorce. This authoritative volume offers a blueprint for addressing some of the most important measurement issues in family research, and it points out potential pitfalls for researchers and students who may not be familiar with data quality issues. The Handbook of Measurement Issues in Family Research will appeal to scholars in the departments of psychology, sociology, and population studies, as well as researchers working in governmental agencies.

**Selected for Doody's Core Titles® 2024 with "Essential Purchase" designation in Pediatrics**Covering every aspect of general pediatric practice, as well as details for many pediatric subspecialists, Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 22nd Edition, brings you fully up to date with everything from rapidly changing diagnostic and treatment protocols to new technologies to the wide range of biologic, psychologic, and social problems faced by children today. Edited and written by experts and prominent members of the pediatric medical community, this comprehensive two-volume reference covers both the science and art of pediatric practice. It remains the reference of choice among pediatricians, pediatric residents, and others involved in the care of young patients, delivering the information you need in a concise, easy-to-use format for everyday reference and study. - Features a user-friendly format with short chapters and subchapters that allow you to quickly find the information you need. - Includes more than 60 new chapters on topics covering the impact of social factors on children's health, the impact of genetic discoveries on understanding diagnosing and treating childhood diseases, updating of current evidenced based diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to childhood diseases, and more. - Offers new and expanded information on gene therapy; interferonopathies; reactive infectious mucocutaneous eruption (RIME); e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI); monkeypox; food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES); signaling pathway disorders; ciliopathies; very early onset inflammatory bowel disease; Epstein-Barr virus susceptibility disorders; marijuana smoke exposure; and much more. - Features hundreds of new figures and tables throughout for visual clarity and quick reference, real-time videos, and regular updates online, written exclusively for Nelson. - Provides fresh perspectives from two new associate editors: Abigail M. Schuh and Cara L. Mack, both of Medical College of Wisconsin. - Remains your indispensable source for definitive, evidence-based answers on every aspect of pediatric care. - Any additional digital ancillary content may publish up to 6 weeks following the publication date.