Suchergebnisse

Child welfare, state welfare and parenting issues are high on the UK policy agenda; this timely book examines recent policy developments, parental perspectives about parenting and child-rearing and parental rights to 'welfare state support'.

Purpose– With the UK Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government reaching its mid-term point, this paper examines its austerity measures and public expenditure reductions in family support and children's services, and its revisions of family support, family intervention, child poverty, child well-being and children's services reform policies in contrast to the former Labour governments.Design/methodology/approach– The paper is informed by policy analysis and research reviews.Findings– The analysis focuses on three dimensions of policy change: first, reductions in income support for children and families and central government funding for children's services; second, refocusing child poverty, child well-being and family policies around the Conservative's "Broken Britain" campaign and the Liberal Democrats targeted social mobility initiatives; and finally, broader children's services reforms. The paper recognises some progressive developments but charts the social welfare implications of reduced welfare entitlements for families and the pressures on support services for families from children's services reforms.Originality/value– The paper combines reflections on the aims, achievements and limitations of Labour reforms to family support and children's services with a broader analysis of welfare state retrenchment and restructuring under the Coalition. It places current changes in family support and children's services within the context of the ideological influences on the Coalition's social policies and the primacy of its austerity programme and welfare state reform agendas.

Recent local government and public service reforms in England have been orientated towards devolving public service delivery and decision-making to the neighbourhood level. These reforms have been driven by political, social and managerial agendas that aim to make local government more accountable and responsive to local communities, to build social capital and to enhance the cost-effectiveness of local services. This paper, with reference to the current policy framework in England, aims to identify and review the possibilities and challenges for local government officials and partner agencies in moving towards decentralised public service provision and governance. The paper initially identifies the key aspects of reform brought in by the central government Department of Communities and Local Government that seek to extend neighbourhood influence and governance structures. The discussion then turns towards considering the challenges in ensuring effective citizen participation – namely responding to multiple policy objectives; devising appropriate neighbourhood governance structures; re-thinking the role of local government; identifying and managing trade-offs; building community and local government capabilities for wide-ranging participation; and ensuring effective partnership working at all levels of local government. In conclusion the important steps towards tackling these challenges in England are recognised although a number of concerns remain.

Recent local government and public service reforms in England have been orientated towards devolving public service delivery and decision-making to the neighbourhood level. These reforms have been driven by political, social and managerial agendas that aim to make local government more accountable and responsive to local communities, to build social capital and to enhance the cost-effectiveness of local services. This paper, with reference to the current policy framework in England, aims to identify and review the possibilities and challenges for local government officials and partner agencies in moving towards decentralised public service provision and governance. The paper initially identifies the key aspects of reform brought in by the central government Department of Communities and Local Government that seek to extend neighbourhood influence and governance structures. The discussion then turns towards considering the challenges in ensuring effective citizen participation – namely responding to multiple policy objectives; devising appropriate neighbourhood governance structures; re-thinking the role of local government; identifying and managing trade-offs; building community and local government capabilities for wide-ranging participation; and ensuring effective partnership working at all levels of local government. In conclusion the important steps towards tackling these challenges in England are recognised although a number of concerns remain.

AbstractThis article aims to critically explore how qualitative case study research that is founded on realist principles can fundamentally enhance social policy evaluation methodologies and, in turn, provide improved learning for policy makers and practitioners. We suggest that these methodological advantages are accrued through the careful construction of theory‐based explanations of "how" policy programmes work thereby addressing the limitations of quasi‐experimental methods—namely, a focus on and prioritisation of outcome measures. The paper situates this key argument within wider, long‐standing debates about evidence‐based policy making and what constitutes "evidence" of impact in social policy. It does so through reflection on the contentious and contradictory knowledge claims that surround the Troubled Families Programme and evaluative claims regarding its efficacy. In conclusion and looking forward, we suggest that there remains much scope to combine "intensive" qualitative case studies with "extensive" quantitative measures within local and national evaluations of complex, multidimensional social policies, such as the Troubled Families Programme.

This useful sources paper provides selective lists of: first, the generic and critical literature about family support; second, the UK policy and practice literature about intensive family support services; third, the international policy and practice literature about intensive family support services; and, finally, a number of web resources.

Since 2000, the New South Wales (NSW) Government in Australia has pursued major child welfare reforms. Responding to the 'crisis in child protection' and informed by a public health approach, key aims were to prevent child maltreatment and promote child welfare by 'expanding and enhancing early intervention and family services'. This article critically reviews the aims, approach and main developments in NSW. The article argues that in several respects the reforms extended and enhanced early intervention and family services in cost-effective ways but suffered from implementation problems, limitations in service developments and major reform challenges which inhibited their scope and impacts. These limitations raise critical issues about the reform framework, resource constraints and ideological influences.

The last twenty years have seen major international developments in welfare state support and services for children, parents and families. Increases in provision occurred within established areas such as welfare benefits, family allowances, child welfare services and maternity leave entitlements; and new 'forms and modalities of provision' were introduced (Daly et al., 2015: 10), in particular parental and paternity leave entitlements; welfare-to-work programmes and active labour market policies; conditional cash support schemes; in-work subsidies for low income families; childcare and early education services; earlier intervention and prevention programmes; parenting and family support services; and inter-departmental, inter-professional and inter-agency models of service provision (OECD, 2009, 2011).

Parenting interventions were an important feature of New Labour's policies to combat social exclusion. This paper critically examines parenting programmes for families with adolescents, assessing national and local policy aims against the perspectives of women who took part in a parenting course, which was the subject of a local evaluation. The paper argues that, while there were important positive outcomes for the participants, the high levels of unmet need which women reported reflect important disparities between the aims of the intervention, the level of service provision, and the needs and concerns of mothers and grandmothers.