Written as part of a training pack for practitioners working in child care and child protection, and bringing together leading figures from a range of disciplines, this important text shows how the latest child development theories can be applied to professionals' working practice. Considering theories of development throughout the lifespan from the early years through to adolescence, and transitions to adulthood, this resource is essential reading for a range of professionals including social workers, teachers, and health and mental health professionals. The authors build up an integrated picture of the developing world of the child, looking at genetic and biological influences alongside individual psychological, interpersonal, familial, educational and wider community domains. The final part of the book looks specifically at issues for practice, including chapters on communicating with children exercising professional judgment, and planning, interventions and outcomes in child care.

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.

`Whose view counts when we decide what "support" to offer or what qualifies as "success"? What kind of support do parents prefer? And can we assume that all parents, by virtue of parents, want the same kind of support? These important questions are discussed in Supporting Parents: Messages from Research. Author David Quinton is professor of psychosocial development at Bristol university's school for policy studies. His report reviews the results of 14 very different research projects selected in 1994 as part of the then government's contribution to International Year of the Family. This penetrating overview which explores and analyses the over-arching themes and outcomes concerning the nature and experience of support that is evident from these diverse projects.' * Zero to Nineteen * How can agencies mobilize the best support for parents and carers as a vital part of the Children's National Service Framework? * What kinds of support do parents and carers themselves say they find most effective? * What do parents who have difficulties seem to lack in the way of support? * What exactly do we mean by `support' and `parenting'? Supporting Parents brings together authoritative research on supporting parents and carers. Underpinning the government's developing policy for children's services, it is essential reading for practitioners, policy makers and academics working in child care. Professor David Quinton, a nationally recognized authority in the field of parenting and child development, summarizes the key findings of an innovative government-funded series of research studies. The studies explored subjects as diverse as parenting in poverty, disabled parents and children, step-parenting, teenage parents, imprisoned fathers, and parents who reject their children. Drawing out the key messages for practice and policy, this accessible overview shows how `informal' support can be complemented by the provision of a fully integrated multi-agency response from health care, education and social services. This important book should be read by all those professionals working with children and their families, including social workers, teachers, GPs and health visitors.

Examining the assessment of need in children's services this book addresses the full spectrum of practice, policy and research developments in the field. The contributors include leading academics, policy makers and senior practitioners who generate a broad-based holistic approach to the assessment of children in need. They show how needs assessment in children's services can be used to tackle problems such as low achievement, mental ill-health and social exclusion at both individual and strategic levels. Approaches to the Assessment of Need in Children's Services will enable service managers and practitioners to respond effectively to the increasing pressure to monitor outcomes and effectiveness in child care work, and to improve and coordinate children's welfare service provision at individual and community levels and provides an indispensable overview and analysis for anyone working or studying in child welfare and social care.