to establish impact, attributing observed changes in welfare to the intervention, while identifying key factors of success. Impact evaluations are aimed at providing feedback to help improve the design of programs and policies. They also provide greater accountability and a tool for dynamic learning, allowing policymakers to improve ongoing programs and ultimately better allocate funds across programs. Such a causal analysis is essential for understanding the relative role of alternative interventions in reducing poverty. The papers in this section again adopt a variety of techniques. The rst two impact evaluation studies employ propensity score matching to establish, ex-post, a valid control group to assess the impact on child schooling outcomes among b- e ciaries of various interventions in Kenya and Ethiopia. The third chapter c- ries out an ex-ante evaluation of alternative cash transfer programs on child school attendance in Uruguay. The nal paper further carries out in-depth macro-modeling and micro-regression analysis to simulate the impacts of the food crisis and various policy responses, including food subsidies and cash transfers, on various dimensions of child poverty in Mali. Though using different approaches, the studies are gen- ally in agreement concerning the positive impact of the cash transfer program on child schooling and labor market outcomes. The studies from Kenya and Uruguay both nd that the schooling interventions are progressive.

This book presents a wholly new perspective on the Child Support Agency. The authors were granted privileged access to the CSA's own staff and were thus able to monitor case conduct from both the Agency and the client perspective. In a gripping analysis they compare the accounts of former husbands and wives with those of their respective legal advisers,and, critically, they incorporate the experience and views of the beleaguered CSA staff who attempted to calculate and enforce child maintenance obligations in those same cases. The media picture of the misery visited upon 'absent fathers' is borne out in part, but even more striking is the authors' account of a catastrophic administrative failure which led to the abandonment of many of the basic tenets of administrative justice. The reasons do not lie in the perceived unfairness of the formula but rather in the failure of those drafting the Child Support legislation to appreciate the impact of such change upon the rest of our hugely complex benefit structure. Their failure to grasp that the problems of inadequate disclosure and ineffective enforcement - with which courts had grappled for decades - could not be tackled effectively by a distant bureaucracy.

This book focuses on children's journeys through the care system, from voluntary admission into care, through complicated and often long court proceedings, in pursuit of Care or Freeing Orders. Problems that arise from taking cases through the courts are examined, together with tensions that may arise between judicial and social work decision-making.

"The Child's Journey Through Care" discusses in full:

the emotional and behavioural problems of looked-after children and elaborates on care-planning and helping strategies; children's rights whilst in State care and their participation in decision-making about their future, including preparation for appearances in court; the importance and ways of building new attachments and relationships with substitute carers, with emphases on resilience and children's strengths; pitfalls and successes when seeking permanency of care and emotional stability.

The book also includes considerations of the European Convention of Human Rights (1998) and describes many of the dilemmas arising in meeting the rights of children and parents, without jeopardising the welfare of either. The importance of openness, consideration, and straightforward dealings with parents is given due emphasis, especially where preparations for taking cases to court are involved.

"The Child's Journey Through Care" will be a valuable source of information for field and residential workers, social work supervisors, resource managers, policy makers, and those working in the legal profession.

As the internet and new online technologies are becoming embedded in everyday life, there are increasing questions about their social implications and consequences. Children, young people, and their families tend to be at the forefront of new media adoption, benefiting from early experiences to the new opportunities afforded by the internet, mobile and broadband content, online games, and peer-to-peer technologies. However, they also encounter a range of risky or negative experiences for which they may be unprepared. These risks, the everyday contexts in which they occur, and the ways in which they are being addressed, are all subject to continual change. This book examines the opportunities and risks at hand for children who have access to online technology. Each chapter has a distinct pan-European focus. With its unique comparative approach, the book captures the diverse, topical, and timely expertise generated by the EU Kids Online project, which brings together 60 researchers from

Childhoods at the Intersection of the Local and the Global examines the imposition of the modern Western notion of childhood, which is now deemed as universal, on other cultures and explores how local communities react to these impositions in various ways such as manipulation, outright rejection and acceptance. The book discusses childhoods in different regions of the world and boasts a range of contributors from several academic disciplines such as Sociology, Social Work, Education, Anthropology, Criminology and Human Rights, who are experts on the regions they discuss. The book argues against the notion of a universal childhood and illustrates that different societies around the world have different notions of childhood. This book is recommended reading for students, scholars and practitioners working with children in the Global South as well as internationally.

The viability, quality and sustainability of publicly supported early childhood education and care services is a lively issue in many countries, especially since the rights of the child imply equal access to provision for all young children. But equitable provision within childcare markets is highly problematic, as parents pay for what they can afford and parental income inequalities persist or widen. This highly topical book presents recent, significant research from eight nations where childcare markets are the norm. It also includes research about 'raw' and 'emerging' childcare markets operating with a minimum of government intervention, mostly in low income countries or post transition economies. Childcare markets compares these childcare marketisation and regulatory processes across the political and economic systems in which they are embedded. Contributions from economists, childcare policy specialists and educationalists address the question of what constraints need to be in place if childcare markets are to deliver an equitable service.

Demonstrating the contested and differentiated nature of childhood and youth embodiment, this book responds to political and media discourses that stigmatise 'unruly' youthful bodies, by combining the critical analysis of imagined and disciplined youthful bodies with a focus on young people's lived and performed, embodied subjectivities.

Drawing upon research examining life's trajectories, Mark Katz identifies sources of protection, strength, and understanding - the cards that enable some children to "beat the odds." He encourages therapists, educators, and other child caretakers to incorporate these factors into our system of care.

Focusing on the application of research in the social sciences to public policymaking in the U.S., this test explores national health policy, inner-city schools, and parent's and children's rights. By constructing a model of policy analysis and using day care centers to demonstrate how it can be applied, the editors raise serious and specific questions about policies affecting the care and education of young children.

This book sheds light on new research related to welfare state, child care policies, and small children's everyday lives in instuitutions in a variety of countries. In uniting recent social childhood research, welfare perspectives and historical and comparative approaches, the book explores institutionalization as a feature of modern child life.

Grounded in the Foucauldian literature on governmentality and drawing on a broad range of disciplines, this book examines the government of childhood in the West from the early modern period to the present. The book deals with three key time-periods and examines shifts in the conceptualization and regulation of childhood and child-rearing.

Every day millions of children in developing countries face adversities of many kinds, yet there is a shortage of sound evidence concerning their plight and an urgent need to identify the most appropriate and effective policy responses from among the multiple approaches that exist. This collection of journal papers aims to engage with researchers and debates in the field so as to understand better some of the numerous risks confronted by children in developing countries. It highlights the complexity of protecting children in various forms of adversity, challenges conventional wisdom about what protects children, demonstrates why it is essential to consult with children to protect them successfully, and suggests that successful protection must be based on strong empirical understanding of the situation and the perspectives of children and communities involved. The contributors are all experienced researchers and practitioners who have worked for many years with children in developing countries. The book offers suggestions for reform of current child protection policies, based on empirical findings around a range of child protection concerns, including children's work, independent migration, family separation, early marriage, and military occupation. Together, the contributions provide a body of knowledge important to humanitarian and development policy and practice. This book was published as a special issue of Development in Practice.

Yves Beigbeder discusses the creation of UNICEF, the evolution of its programs, its structure and finances, and its work in health, nutrition, education, sanitation, and in emergencies. It also examines the current challenges UNICEF faces, including its nature and identity, its relationships with other international organizations, reduced funding, and its need to refocus some of its programs.

In the 20th century we have witnessed the massive movement of women and young mothers into paid employment in the U.S. and other industrialized countries. By 1995 64% of married mothers with a preschool-aged child were in the labor force compared to 35% only 25 years earlier. Rising divorce rates and an increase in the percentage of female-headed households make more families dependent on the mother s earnings. These structural shifts, along with women s growing aspirations for careers and more independence, have changed social norms. Families increasingly depend on formally provided child care.

The child care crisis is easily overlooked. It is a silent, voiceless crisis. Three-, four-, and five-year-old children cannot speak for themselves. Low- and middle-income children and mothers, those most directly affected, have little economic or political power. What choices must we as a society make to aid our nation in raising its children?"

The Silent Crisis in U.S. Child Care," a special issue of THE ANNALS, addresses the important debates and questions regarding child care:

- Regulating Child Care Quality

- Making Child Care Affordable in the United States

. Defining and Assessing Early Childhood Program Quality

. Who Should Pay for Child Care

The discussion of child care not only affects our society as a whole, but also influences the decisions of policymakers and politicians. The articles in this special issue are valuable to scholars, researchers, policymakers and those working in and with the child care system who seek to find answers and solutions to this timely and important problem."

This book tells the story of Sure Start, one of the flagship programmes of the last government. It tells how Sure Start was set up, the numerous changes it went through, and how it has changed the landscape of services for all young children in England. Offering insight into the key debates on services for young children, as well as how decisions are made in a highly political context, it will be of keen interest to policy academics, senior managers of public services and all those with a keen interest in developing services for young children.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. Bringing together the results of studies of child services from diverse countries and cultures, this book covers a broad array of topical issues and social work interventions. It examines adolescent emotional health, children of substance abusers, childhood depression and teenage suicide, children's weight and physical activity, language development in autistic children, and more. Chapters include a survey of the number of children living with substance-abusing parents in the UK, a study which helped identify several ways in which schools address adolescent emotional health issues, and a review of a program that supports parents of young people with suicidal behavior. The book also examines the role child protective services efforts play in delinquency prevention and intervention.

In recent years there has been a growing trend towards increased communication among members of the adoption triad. Although many adoption agencies are moving towards increased information sharing, there is little research evidence available concerning the consequences of this practice. This unique study investigates the consequences of openness in adoption, as practiced by several adoption agencies. Seventeen adoptive families and their corresponding birthparents were interviewed. The effects of the open adoption procedures on family life and attitudes were assessed. Included are a review of the literature on openness in adoption; a review of relevant theoretical perspectives; a discussion of agency practices; and a description of strengths and weaknesses of current research methods.

This book provides insights into the theoretical framework of 'tensions' related to care for children and the elderly. It analyzes if, and under what conditions, welfare state reforms have contributed to strengthening existing tensions, creating new tensions, or relaxing such tensions.

This book provides an overview of the core professional issues in the field of child and youth care practice. The author explores themes ranging from relationships and the exploration of Self to career building and field-specific approaches to management. The book is written from a pragmatic perspective, and serves both to advance current thinking in the field about professional issues as well as to provide the student of child and youth care practice and practitioners with practical and accessible approaches to developing a strong and sustainable professional identity. All of the themes in this book are explored within a context of ethical decision-making and practice approaches informed by a commitment to children's rights and empowerment. Throughout the discussions, concepts and themes are considered in relation to four specific lenses: the power lens, the diversity lens, the language lens and the transitioning from theory to practice lens. These lenses serve to ensure that the reader adopts a critical understanding of the professional issues in the field and is able to develop his or her own professional identity while mitigating the power and identity issues necessarily associated with being a practitioner in a helping profession. This book was published as a special issue of Child and Youth Services.

This book is about the relationships and networks - social capital - that children and young people have in and out of school. Social capital has become of increasing interest to policy makers but there has been little evidence of how it operates in practice. In this unique collection, the social capital of children and young people, and in one case parents and teachers, is explored in a wide range of formal and informal settings. The contributors to the book, who include academic researchers and educational professionals, provide in-depth accounts of social capital being developed and used by children and young people. They offer critical reflections on the significance of social capital and on the experiences of researching the social capital of sometimes vulnerable people. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned with how children and young people get along, get by and get on.

Rigorous research is crucial to effective work with young people and increasingly youth practitioners need to be able to develop, review and evidence their work using a variety of research and assessment tools. This text equips students and practitioners with a thorough understanding of research design, practice and dissemination, as well as approaches to evidence-based practice.

A clear practice framework informs the book, outlining the significance of research to youth work, especially in relation to designing and developing services for young people. Research and Research Methods for Youth Practitioners:

• Analyses the research/practitioner role
• Explores the ethical context of research in youth work
• Offers a thorough analysis of key methodological questions in research in practice
• Provides a guide to data collection and analysis
• Presents five principal research strategies for youth work: ethnographic work and visual methods; interviewing and evaluation; surveys and evaluation; the use of secondary data and documentary analysis; and researching virtual and online settings
• Discusses the implications of research for work with young people as well as its dissemination.

Written by experienced researchers and practitioner-researchers, each chapter in this accessible textbook includes an overview, a critical discussion of the pros and cons of the particular method or approach, a case study, a practice-based task, a summary and suggestions for further reading. This textbook is invaluable for student and practising youth workers. It is also a useful reference for other practitioners working with young people.

Influenced by news reports of young children brutalized by their parents, most of us see the role of child services as the prevention of severe physical abuse. But as Tina Lee shows in Catching a Case, most child welfare cases revolve around often ill-founded charges of neglect, and the parents swept into the system are generally struggling but loving, fighting to raise their children in the face of crushing poverty, violent crime, poor housing, lack of childcare, and failing schools. Lee explored the child welfare system in New York City, observing family courts, interviewing parents and following them through the system, asking caseworkers for descriptions of their work and their decision-making processes, and discussing cases with attorneys on all sides. What she discovered about the system is troubling. Lee reveals that, in the face of draconian budget cuts and a political climate that blames the poor for their own poverty, child welfare practices have become punitive, focused on removing children from their families and on parental compliance with rules. Rather than provide needed help for families, case workers often hold parents to standards almost impossible for working-class and poor parents to meet. For instance, parents can be accused of neglect for providing inadequate childcare or housing even when they cannot afford anything better. In many cases, child welfare exacerbates family problems and sometimes drives parents further into poverty while the family court system does little to protect their rights. Catching a Case is a much-needed wake-up call to improve the child welfare system, and to offer more comprehensive social services that will allow all children to thrive.

Why is it important for social workers to form meaningful relationships with young children on their caseloads? And how can social workers develop meaningful relationships with these young children? This book provides a timely, invaluable resource and practical guide for social work students specialising in family and child care and for practitioners who have young children on their caseloads. Packed with real life examples of in-depth interviews conducted with young children known to social services, it outlines what can be done to improve practice in this challenging and demanding area. Building Relationships and Communicating with Young Children is the first book to bring to life the perspectives of young children and to highlight their competency within the interview process. It: explores the key ingredients required by social workers to establish, maintain, nurture and value their relationships with young children highlights what young children, within the context of meaningful relationships with social workers, can tell us about their circumstances, their perspectives, their feelings and their views uses case examples to identify best practice guidelines including methods and techniques for social workers to build meaningful relationships with young children on their caseloads makes recommendations regarding how best to positively engage and work with young children. Written by a social worker and university lecturer with 16 years experience of working in the field of child protection, this textbook is full of case studies and practical advice about how to form relationships with young children known to social services, the most appropriate methods to use and how to represent their perspectives. It is essential reading for all social work students as well as social work practitioners and other social and health care professionals.

This collection of 12 new and revised essays on child care and children's services, written by leading child welfare historian Roy Parker, draws on his lifetime of research in this area. By exploring various topics these essays explain significant political, economic, legal and ideological aspects of this history from the mid-1850s. This unique and lasting review of child care services allows readers to understand how the services for some of society's most vulnerable children have become what they are, how well they have met and now meet the needs of those children. The collection provides a high-quality, historical reference resource that will inform and capture the interest of social work and social policy students as well as social and legal historians, political scientists and those involved in administration and government, struggling with the issues of the day.

Between 1850 and 1970, around three hundred thousand children were sent to new homes through child migration programmes run by churches, charities and religious orders in the United States and the United Kingdom. Intended as humanitarian initiatives to save children from social and moral harm and to build them up as national and imperial citizens, these schemes have in many cases since become the focus of public censure, apology and sometimes financial redress. Remembering Child Migration is the first book to examine both the American 'orphan train' programmes and Britain's child migration schemes to its imperial colonies. Setting their work in historical context, it discusses their assumptions, methods and effects on the lives of those they claimed to help. Rather than seeing them as reflecting conventional child-care practice of their time, the book demonstrates that they were subject to criticism for much of the period in which they operated. Noting similarities between the American 'orphan trains' and early British migration schemes to Canada, it also shows how later British child migration schemes to Australia constituted a reversal of what had been understood to be good practice in the late Victorian period. At its heart, the book considers how welfare interventions motivated by humanitarian piety came to have such harmful effects in the lives of many child migrants. By examining how strong moral motivations can deflect critical reflection, legitimise power and build unwarranted bonds of trust, it explores the promise and risks of humanitarian sentiment.