Outlines the impact of legislative changes in England and Wales following implementation of the Children Act 1989. Notes the central role of partnership to the act. Focuses on preventive practice and partnership with parents for child protection, exploring the balance between collusive and oppressive child welfare practice. Concludes with a case…

Outlines the main elements of the British Children's Fund to examine whether it has the necessary elements needed to make a real difference in the lives of children living in poverty. (JPB)

In October 1999, the British government enacted the Working Families' Tax Credit, which aimed at encouraging work among low-income families with children. This paper uses panel data collected between 1991 and 2001 to evaluate the effect of this reform on single mothers. We find that the reform led to a substantial increase in their employment rate…

Examines effective permanence planning for children, focusing on the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) strategy. Cites the importance of maintaining children with their birth families, while recognizing that some children remain too long in damaging family settings. Examines the issues of child attachment and contact. Calls for an…

Reviews the research literature on physical violence against children, including disciplinary tactics and abusive violence. Considers the incidence and prevalence of violence against children, key themes in research on causes, correlates and consequences of this violence, and future research needs. (JPB)

Discusses issues related to measuring outcomes of social-work interventions with children. Emphasizes the need for regular, carefully timed assessments. Argues that approach and perspective differences obscure relationships between program and child outcomes and that assessing family-services outcomes raises accountability questions. Suggests that…

Impetus to prosecute child abuse has increased considerably with earlier involvement of police and legal reforms for more child-centered practices. Research on implementation of the Memorandum of Good Practice is presented to propose that prosecution of abuse is neither achieved nor achievable in majority of cases and that assumption on which…

Reviews the evidence on the prevalence of child poverty in Britain including: (1) how child poverty has changed over the last 20 years; (2) how child poverty in Britain compares with that in other countries; (3) characteristics of poor children; (4) impact of poverty on child well-being; and (5) government attempts to abolish child poverty. (SD)

Britain's Children Act 1989 draws together and simplifies existing legislation about children to produce a more practical and consistent legal code. The legislation's main provisions concerning children with special needs deal with child protection in independent schools; truancy; parent rights and responsibilities; government-sponsored day care;…

Reviews 17 publications covering a variety of topics including abused disabled children; child placement; helping attachment disordered children; open adoption; family empowerment; teenage fostering; the Children Act of 1989 (Great Britain); family law; social services and child care law; and challenging racism in the early years. (TJQ)

Examines the increasing demands on social workers to provide services to children in state care and the need for policy and service delivery changes in this area. Suggests changes in government and agency initiatives to improve staffing levels, renewed training, and adequate support for social work services to children in state care. (JPB)

The 1870 Education Act in Great Britain brought many educational reforms benefiting pupils and teachers. Describes emotional and traditional circumstances confronting reforms. (DS)

Claims that Britain's policy and practice on delinquency rides roughshod over welfare needs of children and negates their claims to justice, and that representation of children as "really persistent nasty little juveniles" by officials has served to legitimize harsh excesses of government responses. Challenges such "legitimacy"…

Discusses Britain's Children Act, which requires child welfare authorities to give due consideration to a child's religious background when placing a child or planning for its future. Reviews some child welfare practice and policy implications of this regulation. (HTH)

Explores the child welfare placement needs of children of black mixed parentage, focusing on research evidence relating to the overrepresentation of children of mixed parentage in care, social workers' perceptions of ethnic differences relative to their own ethnic groups, and possible trends in placement of children of mixed parentage. (HTH)