The supply of funding for children's service provision is limited, and to make the best use of available resources, services must be run efficiently and cost-effectively whilst achieving the central objective of children's well-being.Co-published with the DfES, this book presents the findings of a set of original research studies and reports on the way that care services for children are delivered, the cost of providing services and the extent to which they improve outcomes for children. It looks at services provided by the statutory, for profit and voluntary sectors and examines how resources are distributed and why; what evidence there is of the effectiveness of the different services; and what changes can and should be made to improve efficiency. From the research findings, Jennifer Beecham and Ian Sinclair draw key messages for practice, both on how best to use resources to support children and on how research in this area should be carried out in the future.This is an invaluable book for practitioners, policy makers and managers of social care services for children.Care services for children depend on a limited supply of resources; it is vital that these are used to best effect. This book considers the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of these services and their contribution to children's well-being.The book presents the findings of a set of original research studies. It looks at services provided by the statutory, for-profit and voluntary sectors, examining the way they are delivered and how resources are distributed. It examines the cost of providing particular services, the extent to which they improve outcomes for children and the degree to which they can be considered cost-effective. It explores what changes can and should be made to improve efficiency, paying particular attention to the possible contributions of early intervention and better co-ordination. From the research findings, Jennifer Beecham and Ian Sinclair draw key messages for practice for the use of resources and for future research in this area.This is an invaluable book for those practitioners, policy makers, managers, who are concerned with social care services for children.Foreword. Acknowledgements. 1. Introducing the Book. 2. How the Studies were Done. 3. Delivering Care Services: The Ideal and the Reality. 4. Costs and the Way they Vary. 5. Interventions Unrelated to the Care System. 6. Interventions Related to the Care System. 7. Conclusion. Appendix A: DfES Implementation and Advisory Group Members. Appendix B: Research Studies and Authors. References. Selected reading on parenting programmes. Subject Index. Author Index
Foreword. Acknowledgements. 1. Introducing the Book. 2. How the Studies were Done. 3. Delivering Care Services: The Ideal and the Reality. 4. Costs and the Way they Vary. 5. Interventions Unrelated to the Care System. 6. Interventions Related to the Care System. 7. Conclusion. Appendix A: DfES Implementation and Advisory Group Members. Appendix B: Research Studies and Authors. References. Selected reading on parenting programmes. Subject Index. Author Index
The book is clearly presented, with concise explanations of terminology and summaries of key findings. It raises some of the many problems of such research. How can we know that apparently effective services are not simply dealing with less difficult problems? How can we be sure that it is the service which is making a difference and that things would not just have got better anyway?
My overwhelming impression from having read this book is just how important the questions are and just how far we are from being able to answer them with confidence.
The book will be of fundamental interest to those who commission child care services or manage them. It will also be of interest to social workers and foster carers who want to think a bit wider than their immediate experience of dealing with children and ask themselves some bigger questions.
This text represents the findings of a number of research studies carried out over the past six years under the auspices of the government's Cost and Effectiveness of Service for Children in Need initiative, itself part of the extensive Every Child Matters programme. The Plethora of initiatives, programme, policies and reforms introduced over the last 10 years make these findings valuable and timely. The research involves services provided by the statutory, voluntary and private sectors. The studies examine the delivery and distribution of services, their cost - effectiveness and the extent to which they improve outcomes, (a definition of which is provided), for children.
By its nature this book is far more likely to appeal to those charged with the management of children's services, yet there is plenty here for the interested professional or lay care worker to consider. Key questions are addressed such as why do costs and quality very so much? What are the consequences of early and of later interventions in children's lives/ How can a multi-agency `partnership' approach lead to better outcomes?
