Britain faces a wages crisis, underpinned by low productivity. For the last seven years, people's wages have risen more slowly than the prices in the shops. People also often become "stuck" in low pay and cannot advance their careers. This paper argues for a new National Advancement Service, providing people in low paid work a Career…

This outline of the third phase of Project INISS, in which innovations in information provision were applied experimentally in seven social services departments, describes the intention of "action research" and innovations introduced, traces main features of negotiations with department management and staff, and presents results.…

Reviewing recent British research and policy concerning preschoolers, the author criticizes the distinction made between "care" and "education." He advocates coordination of local services for children under five. (SJL)

Government Social Services and the integration of the elderly in British society are discussed. (SD)

Discusses the coordination and history of pre-school services in Britain since the 1970s. During this century, British preschool services have developed within separate areas of public policy. In the late 1970s, coordination became a central issue in public debate and government policy. (RJC)

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…

Working in partnership with parents is a guiding principle of Great Britain's Children Act 1989. Requirements cover care plans and reviews for children looked after by the local authority. This article examines whether working in partnership with parents has been translated into practice, using findings from a major research evaluation of child…

Explores adaptation and coping with aging in 500 rural elderly in Great Britain. Describes changes in residence and household composition, access to services, and support from friends and family. Discusses social service implications. (JAC)

Minimal service sheltered housing with peripatetic services adjusted to individual need may be more acceptable to the majority of elderly. The key program element in the British model is a resident warden, a housewife whose training and presence assures a proper and consistent flow of peripatetic support services. (Author)

Changes in British social policy regarding community health care has implications for local education agency (LEA) providers of adult continuing education. LEAs will either have a role in providing staff training and other learning opportunities, will be forced to provide cheaper forms of community care, or will be ignored altogether. (SK)

Explores the consequences of local government reorganization for children's services provided by voluntary sector organizations in Scotland, England, and Wales. Reviews the impact on funding, boundary problems, changing structures, and the fragmentation of local authorities. Concludes that short-term impact is damaging for projects and their…

The experience of the British and Irish coordination of social and health care suggests a categorical rather than comprehensive approach. Personnel training, resource development and planning should be undertaken on a slow, step-by-step schedule. (JAC)

Children in out-of-home care risk losing contact with parents and others despite emphasis of the Children Act 1989. Contact is lower for children in foster care and as family support diminishes. Contact after adoption increases as methods of indirect contact developed by adoption agencies are implemented; lost contact for all children can be…

Argues that an awareness of other countries' child protection systems can help in appraising child protection in Britain. Suggests that, by recognizing that there are different solutions, as well as different ways of defining and conceptualizing problems, policymakers can better identify the strengths and weaknesses of the British child protection…

Introduces theme issue on assessing outcomes in children's services, based on presentations given at a conference in September 1997. Articles in Part 1 deal with assessing outcomes for services to all children in need. Articles in Part 2 focus on initiatives in Britain and elsewhere related to the Looking After Children project, dealing with…