research in practice

‘Joined-up thinking’ and working are central tenets of the New Labour approach to the modernisation of public services. Co-ordinated services have been part of the vision for children’s services since the launch of the Quality Protects programme in the 1990s, and the need for multi-agency collaboration for particular groups of children and young people – such as children with disabilities, looked after children and youth offenders in custody - has been recognised for some time (Salmon, 2004).