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...

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...

Babies and very young children in care often experience several changes of placement and carer, which can have a negative impact upon their long-term ability to develop secure attachments. Babies and Young Children in Care examines why babies enter care or accommodation and why securing their long-term future can be a lengthy process. It analyses the circumstances, characteristics and experiences of these young children before, during and after being looked after, including reasons for changes of carer and placement disruptions. It looks at how young children are affected by the lack of...