Search results

The aim of this article is to describe a consultation/mentoring dialogue between a researcher of multi‐agency teams and a multi‐agency team manager, by providing a content analysis of the notes of a series of mentoring dialogues, presented in the form of a conversation. Themes discussed include: governance and the role of the steering group; managing the agencies; the role of the team manager; explanatory and practice/intervention models; job roles; professional procedures; workload; team functioning and culture; and the consultation process itself. The article suggests that research findings can usefully inform the development of new multi‐agency teams and that collaboration between researchers and service managers can be mutually beneficial.

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.

The representation of ‘the child’ within children's services and the representations of ‘risk’ and its management have implications for disabled people hoping to qualify for and work within certain professions. This article assesses the relevance for children's services of findings from the Disability Rights Commission's Formal Investigation into the impact of professional regulation on disabled people studying and working within three public sector professions in Britain ‐ nursing, social work and teaching. Many professional regulations include varied and vague requirements for ‘fitness’. These are interpreted and implemented differently, often informed by unexamined negative assumptions around disability. Disabled people, particularly those with ‘hidden disabilities’, can be discouraged from disclosing their conditions. This deprives them of the support and adjustments necessary for them to practise safely and effectively. Professional regulation can thus paradoxically induce a false sense of security. The various professions are urged to review and update their regulations, guidance and policies in order to ensure concordance with recent developments in disability and wider antidiscrimination legislation.