research in practice

RPU 135 April 2012

Highlights include:

• Children and Young People's Health Outcomes Forum
• Government’s Alcohol Strategy: Inquiry
• Revised Sure Start Children’s Centres Statutory Guidance
• Improving Alternative Provision
• Keeping Girls Out of the Penal System
• Call for evidence on the role of councillors in their local communities

RPU 134 March 2012

Highlights include:

• The Government’s Response to the Family Justice Review
• Consultation on the regulation of health and social care professionals
• Improving the Mental Health of Looked After Young People: An exploration of mental health stigma
• Advice on Child Internet Safety 1.0: Universal guidelines for providers
• Taking Forward Community Budgets

RPU 133 February 2012

Highlights include:

• Inquiry-Youth Justice
• Raising the Participation Age Regulations
• applying Behavioural Insight into Health
• Joint Enterprise
• Means Testing

RPU 132 January 2012

Highlights include:

• Edging away from care - how services successfully prevent young people entering care
• Issues in Safeguarding Refugee and Asylum-seeking Children and Young People
• Child Protection Inquiry: Revised terms of reference
• Regulation of Providers on the Early Years Register
• The impact of Austerity Measures on Households with Children
• Adoption Assesssment  Working Group
• Making the Case for Universal Childcare
• Mental Health Service Transitions for Young People

RPU 131 December 2011

Highlights include:

• Internet Regulation
• Community Budgets for Families with Multiple Problems: Select Committee Inquiry
• 5 days in August: An interim report on the 2011 English riots
• Inquiry into the Child Protection System: Publication of written evidence
• The future of the Youth Justice Board
• Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation: DfE Action Plan

Research summaries on:

• Is the Incredible Years parenting programme effective with parents of children 8-13?
• Cyber Bullying: practices to face digital aggresion
• Evaluating Social Work Education

RPU 130 November 2011

RPU 129 October 2011

Highlights include:

• Developing Employment Opportunities for Care Leavers
• The Helping Families Programme
• Common Inspection Framework
• Auxillary Aids for Children with Disabilities
• Behavioural Insights Team: Annual Update
• Coping with the Cuts
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Pathfinders

RPU 128 September 2011

Highlights include:

• Localising support for Council Tax in England
• Changes to the Care to learn Scheme
• Big Lottery Fund: Proposed Policy directions
• Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Update and way forward
• Inquiry: Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
• Social Impact Bond Pilots
• A Summary of the Health Harms of Drugs
• Seeking to engage 'Hard-To-Reach' Families

RPU 127 August 2011

Highlights include:

• Core Purpose of Sure Start Children’s Centres
• Arrangements for the Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services
• Open Public Services White Paper
• Family Migration
• Operation of the Family Courts
• Supporting Families in the Foundation Years
• The Family Drug & Alcohol Court (FDAC) Evaluation Project Final Report
• Concurrent planning (2) ‘The rollercoaster of uncertainty’

RPU 126 July 2011

RPU 125 June 2011

Highlights this month include:

• Producing and Using Video Data in the Early years
• Care Planning and Review for Looked After Children
• The Munro Review of Child Protection
• Community Infrastructure Levy: An overview

RPU 124 May 2011

Highlights this month include:

• School Funding Reform: Rationale and principles
• NHS Listening Exercise
• A New Approach to Child Poverty
• Long-term Outcomes for Children with Early Language Problems: Beating the Odds
• Social work Assessment of Children in Need: What do we know? Messages from research

RPU 123 April 2011

Highlights this month include:

• Consultation on statutory duties on local government
• Consultation on financial support for 16-19 year olds in education and training
• Summary of the SEN green paper
• Alcohol consumption and family life
• Achieving successful outcomes through alternative educational provision
• Housing support for young people leaving custody
• Contact with family and friendship networks for children in placements

RPU 122 March 2011

Highlights this month includes:

• Welfare Reform Bill
• More Effective Responses to Antisocial Behaviour
• Vetting and Barring Scheme Remodelling Review – Report and recommendations
• The Youth Justice System in England and Wales: Reducing offending by young people
• Safeguarding Children – Literature review

RPU 121 February 2011

Highlights this month includes

• Early Intervention: The next steps.
• The Munro Review of Child Protection. Interim report: The child’s journey
• Behaviour and Discipline in Schools
• Liberating the NHS: Developing the healthcare workforce
• Thirty years of listening to children? 

RPU 120 January 2011

Highlights this month include

• Healthy Lives, Healthy People
• Building a Safe and Confident Future
• Analysis of Responses to Inform Green Paper on SEN ­
• Recognised, Valued and Supported: Next steps
• The Foundation Years
• Review Children's Commissioner
• Liberating the NHS

RPU 119 December 2010

Highlights this month include

• Before care: A report of children’s views on entering care by the Children’s Rights Director for
• England (2010) London: Ofsted
• A Review of Reviews in Child and Adolescent Mental Health
• The Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 201
• Grandparents (Access Rights) Bill
• Public Bodies Bill
• Public Services (Social Enterprise and Social Value) Bill
• Reform of Public Services
• The Audit and Inspection of Local Authorities
• Supporting a Stronger Civil Society
• Arrangements for Placement of Children by Voluntary Organisations and Others (England)
• Regulations 2011
• Measuring National Well-being
• Cafcass’s Response to Increased Demand for its Services
• College of Social Work: Consultation findings
• A New Secret Garden: Alternative provision, exclusion and children’s rights
• Progress with VFM Savings and Lessons for Cost-reduction Programmes
• State of Children’s Rights in England 2010
• Children’s Workforce Development Council
• Equalities Act 2010: Socioeconomic duty
• Mutuals Information Service
• Better Together: Preparing for spending cuts to the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector
• Improving Outcomes for Children and Young People through Partnership in Children’s Trusts

RPU 118 November 2010

Highlights this month include:

• an analysis of serious case reviews from 2007 to 2009
• an interim report and evaluation of the Right 2Bcared4 pilots
• a call for evidence to inform Graham Allen’s independent review into early intervention
• new public health guidance from NICE and SCIE on improving the quality of life of looked after children and young people.

RPU 117 October 2010

Welcome to the latest Research and Policy Update. Highlights this month include:

• recent research on the topic of child maltreatment and an interesting analysis of how the therapeutic relationship affects outcomes for children and families
• an ‘engagement paper’ designed to stimulate thinking on how the government’s plans for the NHS could improve services for children and young people
• Ofsted’s review of special educational needs (SEN) and disability arrangements, and a consultation inviting views to inform the forthcoming green paper on SEN.

RPU 116 September 2010

Highlights this month include:

• Eileen Munro on 'Learning to Reduce Risk in Child Protection'
• Graham Allen and Ian Duncan Smith on early intervention
• a consultation on proposed revisions to regulations governing fostering services, children’s homes, and adoption and fostering panels
• a raft of newly launched select committee inquiries, including inquiries into Ofsted, NHS commissioning, health expenditure, and behaviour and discipline in schools.

RPU 115 August 2010

Highlights this month include:

• a review of a new book setting out a vision for a 21st century model of safeguarding
• a new book on international advances in adoption research
• calls for evidence to inform the Family Justice Review, the Review on Poverty and Life Chances, and a review of the office of the Children’s Commissioner
• consultations arising from publication of the NHS white paper.

RPU 114 July 2010

Highlights this month include:

• a report on the preliminary findings from the first year of the national evaluation of Targeted Mental Health in Schools (TaMHS)
• a qualitative study exploring the perspectives of young women from two different cultures who have experienced repeat teenage pregnancies
• an expert briefing on knowledge-based practice in complex child protection cases.

RPU 113 June 2010

Highlights this month include:

• a review of the Local Authorities Research Consortium (LARC2) study that explored the processes around the Common Assessment Framework and integrated working
• a research study that draws attention to the problems caused by poor systems design in relation to the performance of initial assessments>/li>
• the coalition government’s agreed programme for the next five years and details of the proposed bills in the Queen’s speech
• an online consultation on the structure of the College of Social Work.

RPU 112 May 2010

Highlights this month include:

• a succinct overview of the policy and practice implications from the English and Romanian Adoptees (ERA) Study
• a research review that focuses on 'what works' in preventing emotional maltreatment
• a paper setting out the proposed purpose and functions of the College of Social Work, in advance of formal consultation starting later this month
• new select committee reports on young people who are NEET, the government’s approach to crime prevention and NHS commissioning.

RPU 111 April 2010

Highlights this month include:

• an article that considers the impact of religious beliefs on parenting capacity
• a survey of the drivers for change behind child care legislation over the last 60 years
• consultation on a new statutory framework for family and friends care
• and the government’s implementation plans for social work reform.

RPU 110 March 2010

Highlights this month include:

• a study that aims to improve understanding of recurrent poverty
• details of newly commissioned research studies and work in progress, including a project intended to lead to the development of practice guidance on the effective fostering of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
• a DCSF consultation on draft guidance on the transition to adulthood for looked after children
• and a consultation on draft public health guidance (developed jointly by NICE and SCIE) on improving the physical health, and emotional health and well-being of looked after children.

RPU 109 February 2010

Highlights this month include:

• a small qualitative study of the power relationship between child welfare practitioners and parents in the US
• a systematic review of five bullying studies that considers varying definitions of bullying and argues schools would better serve their pupils by developing an anti-bullying policy based on their own students’ definition
• the government’s green paper on families and relationships, which includes six consultation questions intended to help the government shape the next phase of family policy.

RPU 108 January 2010

Highlights this month include:

• a research study on adoption and the inter-agency fee
• a study that sought to track the impact of the Children’s Trust Pathfinders
• a comparative essay that looks at models of education and professional roles for social work in England and five other European countries
• a consultation on the revised statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.

RPU 107 December 2009

Highlights this month include:

• a comparative study of inter-professional working in Sweden and England
• the final report of the Social Work Taskforce
• and our annual round-ups of research and policy developments.

RPU 106 November 2009

Welcome to the latest issue of the Research and Policy Update. Highlights this month include:

• reviews of two new books – one on leadership, and a psychoanalytic perspective on the emotional experience of adoption
• a survey of social workers’ experiences of post-qualifying child care training and their current work practices
• the final report of the independent three-year Cambridge Primary Review of the condition and future of primary education in England
• public health guidance on the promotion of the social and emotional well-being of young people in secondary education.

RPU 105 October 2009

Welcome to the latest issue of the Research and Policy Update. Highlights this month include:

• a review of the effectiveness of parent training interventions to improve problem behaviour among disabled children
• newly commissioned research projects, including best practice in placing large sibling groups for adoption, a Family Drug and Alcohol Court system, and behavioural approaches to sleep and behaviour problems among disabled children
• a consultation on the revised National Minimum Standards for adoption, children’s homes and fostering
• and a new online toolkit launched as part of the government’s Think Family approach to supporting families at risk.

RPU 104 September 2009

Welcome to the latest issue of the Research and Policy Update. Highlights this month include:

• an evaluation of the Integrated Children’s System that raises serious questions about its fitness for purpose
• a reflective paper on the effective delivery of evidence-informed practice
• an opportunity to comment on the Children’s Workforce Development Council’s (CWDC) draft statement on the role and tasks of social work
• an opportunity to inform the thinking of the Social Work Task Force on the functions and form that a new National College for Social Work might take
• following publication of Lord Laming’s progress report The Protection of Children in England earlier this year, a consultation on the revised statutory guidance on serious case reviews.

RPU 103 August 2009

Welcome to the latest issue of the Research and Policy Update. Highlights this month include:

• a review of Quality Matters in Children's Services – the latest in the series of 'messages from research' summaries that began more than 20 years ago
• an invaluable new book on Work Discussion and its importance in working with hurt children and families
• a select committee report on the training of child and family social workers
• the interim report of the Social Work Task Force.

RPU 102 July 2009

Welcome to the latest issue of the Research and Policy Update. Highlights this month include:

• a valuable critique on NICE guidelines on parenting programmes for parents of children with conduct disorder
• a summary of the evidence on early childhood development, which should help those seeking funding for evidence-informed parenting programmes
• an opportunity to comment on the government’s draft legislative programme
• a select committee report on the balance of power between central and local government
• the new schools white paper Your Child, Your Schools, Our Future.

RPU 101 June 2009

Welcome to the latest issue of the Research and Policy Update. Highlights this month include:

• a study from Australia on a crucial aspect of the child protection system: the relationship between front-line practitioners and their first-line managers
• a small but important study on supporting the participation of disabled children and young people in decision making
• the government’s full response to Lord Laming’s report
• the first report of the Social Work Task Force
• an MPs’ report on human trafficking in the UK.

RPU 100 May 2009

Welcome to this centenary issue of the Research and Policy Update. Highlights this month include:

• new books – on children and violence, on the costs and consequences of placing children in care, and on adoptive parenting, as well as a unique collection of more than 100 children’s personal accounts of adoption
• a consultation from the Children’s Workforce Development Council on the youth workforce reform programme
• and the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee’s report of its 16-month inquiry into looked after children.

RPU 99 April 2009

Highlights in this month's RPU include:

• two research articles based on studies carried out in Wales
• some Australian research exploring the role of teachers and the school environment in improving outcomes for children in foster care
• a brief summary of Lord Laming's progress report on child protection in England
• a link to an online toolkit to help support the effective commissioning of parenting programmes produced by the National Academy of Parenting Practitioners

RPU 98 March 2009

Highlights in this month's RPU include:

• a summary of the Apprenticeships, Skills and Children and Learning Bill
• a consultation for Ending Child Poverty: Making it happen
• the new joint strategy from the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families which sets of the government's long term vision for the health and well-being of all children and young people.

RPU 97 February 2009

This Special Edition of the RPU in which the research update focuses specifically on the subject of child maltreatment.

• an invitation to social care workers, by the Children's Workforce Development Council, to help shape standards in residential child and social care and foster care
• a summary outline of the new NHS Constitution
• an outline of the membership and remit of the new Social Work Taskforce

RPU 96 January 2009

Highlights this month include:

• research exploring the role of schools in providing comprehensive CAMH services
• a summary of parliamentary bills relating to children and young people made in the Queen's Speech on 3 December
• consultation for the 2020 Children and Young People's Workforce Strategy