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This article reviews the contents of the previous year's editions of the Journal of Children's Services (Volume 2, 2007), as requested by the Journal's editorial board. It draws out some of the main messages for how high‐quality scientific research can help build good childhoods in western developed countries, focusing on: the need for epidemiology to understand how to match services to needs; how research can build evidence of the impact of prevention and intervention services on child well‐being; what the evidence says about how to implement proven programmes successfully; the economic case for proven programmes; the urgency of improving children's material living standards; how to help the most vulnerable children in society; and, lastly, the task of measuring child well‐being.

This article seeks to help senior local policy‐makers, managers and practitioners in children's services to develop robust but realistic and manageable strategies for measuring outcomes in a multi‐disciplinary context. Drawing on orthodox research methods, it sets out strategies for measuring outcomes in children's services at individual child, service and community levels. It is intended to show how, in a given local jurisdiction, different approaches to measuring outcomes could fit together logically and within a reasonable budget, so creating an outcome culture and contributing to the development and integration of services. The principles outlined would also apply to adult services.

This article reviews the first volume of the Journal of Children's Services. In doing so, it discusses broader directions and challenges in research, policy and practice. The article focuses on discussion about outcomes, the ‘idea’ of children's services and the impact of interventions on children's health and development. It welcomes reflections on different approaches to outcome measurement, analyses of the practicalities of implementing policy reforms and rigorous evaluations of the impact of Early Years, parenting and other programmes. At the same time, it suggests specific areas in which more work would be valuable, including: socio‐political commentary on policy developments; methods of and results from need analyses; empirical research on inter‐agency initiatives; how to improve the processes and structures that underpin good outcomes; transitions; and understanding ‘what works’ in research dissemination and utilisation. The value of international perspectives (including intra‐UK comparisons) is stressed. Forthcoming special editions on randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (2007) and anti‐social behaviour by young people (2008) will help to address other points raised.

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are acknowledged to provide the most reliable estimate of programme effectiveness, yet relatively few are undertaken in children's services. Consequently, there are few models with a demonstrated impact on child well‐being, leading to a concern not only that services may frequently be ineffective but also that some may be harmful. This article considers how this state of affairs has come into being and discusses potential remedies for improving both the knowledge base and the quality of interventions. It focuses on ‘operating systems’ that link prevention science and community engagement and so help communities, agencies and local authorities to choose effective prevention, early intervention and treatment models. Specifically, it describes an attempt in Ireland to implement a robust programme of research into children's health and development, to rigorously design new services, evaluate their impact to the highest standard (using RCTs)and integrate the results into the policy process. Based on the authors' extensive first‐hand experience of supporting the work, and the advice of international experts, the article reflects critically on the unforeseen challenges and offers lessons for others starting a similar enterprise.