Description
Book SynopsisBringing together a range of perspectives from practice, lived experience and academia, this is an accessible and timely guide to children’s services reform. Critically considering the impact of the MacAlister Review, the book highlights both the positive and negative aspects of reform, before setting out alternative policy and practice directions.
Trade Review“Working with children and families forms the bedrock of social work in the UK. This collected edition provides a trenchant critique of the McAllister Review, and essential reading for qualifying social workers. It also offers hope for future practice following a rights-oriented trajectory.” Lena Dominelli, University of Stirling
“I know of and respect each and every author in this book. That is testament to the power of their individual and collective voice. Read the truth of their words.” David Anderson, Social Work Consultant
“Incisively critical yet full of hope – I would recommend this book to all children's social care workers and more importantly to the people we aim to serve.” Fiona Daniels, children's social worker
Table of ContentsForeword – June Thoburn 1. Introduction: Critical Perspectives on Children’s Services Reform – Christian Kerr and Robin Sen 2. Where Now? Children’s Rights in England Into the 2020s – Carolyne Willow 3. More of Memes than Schemes: Networked Propagation in Children’s Social Care – Joe Hanley 4. Reclaiming Social Work, the Social Work Complex and Issues of Bias in Children’s Services – Robin Sen and Christian Kerr 5. Humane Social Work Practice: A More Parent Friendly System? Hopes and Challenges in the 2020s – Taliah Drayak 6. Exploring and Re-Imagining Children’s Services in England Through a Decolonial Frame – Isobel Drew, Rebekah Pierre and Robin Sen 7. Kinship Care for England and Wales in the 2020s: Assumptions, Challenges, and Opportunities – Paul Shuttleworth 8. If Adoption Is the Answer, What Was the Question? – Avery Bowser 9. Caring for Children and Young People in State Care in the 2020s – John Radoux 10. Protecting Children: A Social Model for the 2020s – Brid Featherstone and Anna Gupta 11. Conclusion: Children’s Services Reform Looking Back and Forwards – Robin Sen and Christian Kerr
