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
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Description
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?