Description
Book SynopsisPolicy reforms to children's services in the UK and elsewhere encourage a greater focus on outcomes defined in terms of child well-being. Yet for this to happen, we need not only a better understanding of what child well-being is and how services can improve it, but also the ability to measure child well-being in order to evaluate success. This book investigates the main approaches to conceptualising child well-being, applies them to the child population using household survey and agency audit data, then considers the implications for children's services. The author: provides a clear conceptual understanding of five perspectives on well-being: need, rights, poverty, quality of life and social exclusion demonstrates the value of each perspective charts levels of child well-being in an inner-London community, including violated rights and social exclusion sets out the features that children's services must have if they are to improve child well-being defined in these terms This book should be read by everyone involved in developing, implementing and evaluating children's services, including researchers, policy makers and practitioners.
Trade Review"This book moves effortlessly and clearly from ideas about well-being, through their measurement, to policy proposals. It is essential reading for those concerned with children's well-being, but I hope that its message will attract a wider audience." Ian Gough, Professor of Social Policy, University of Bath
" Axford has succeeded in providing research that will better equip staff to make assessments with finesse and formulate strategies to suit." Adoption & Fostering
'Axford’s book unpicks the definition of child wellbeing in a strong mix of theoretical constructs and evidence based research.' 'This book has earned its place as a valuable social care text'. Research, Policy and Planning
Table of ContentsIntroduction; Part one: Defining and measuring the concepts: Need; Rights; Poverty; Quality of life; Social exclusion; Relationships between the concepts; Part two: The measures applied to children: Prevalence rates and distinguishing features; Relationships between the conditions; Part three: Implications for children's services: Matching conditions and service styles; Developing congruent children's services; Conclusions.
