Social work
Information and joining up services
The case of an information guide for parents of disabled children
This best practice guide to providing information for users of multi-agency services for disabled children is an invaluable resource for professionals, parents and carers.
'It pays dividends'
Direct payments and older people
Drawing on interviews with older people, local authority care managers and direct payments support service workers, this topical report looks at how older people use direct payments and how they make them work.
Neighbourhood regeneration
Resourcing community involvement
This book looks at how community capacity building is delivered within neighbourhood regeneration programmes, focusing on the key issue of resourcing. This review is framed within the context of the government's emerging national strategy for neighbourhood renewal, and the New Commitment to Regeneration initiative.
Reflecting realities
Participants' perspectives on integrated communities and sustainable development
Reflecting realities explores participants' perspectives on participation structures; capacity building and the technical and professional support available; and systems for monitoring and evaluating regeneration programmes. The report includes recommendations for national and regional government, local authorities and community organisations.
Enduring change: The experience of the Community Links Social Enterprise Zone
Lessons learnt and next steps
'Regeneration', 'mainstreaming', 'community involvement', 'evidence-based policy', 'public service reform' - terms central to the government's policy programme for tackling social deprivation. This report describes how an East London community organisation has worked to give these terms practical meaning through its Social Enterprise Zone project.
Developing people - regenerating place
Achieving greater integration for local area regeneration
Drawing on experiences from nine UK cities, Developing people - Regenerating place analyses the views of a range of practitioners on how to achieve more effective joint working across area regeneration and social inclusion initiatives.
Quality at home for older people
Involving service users in defining home care specifications
The government's NHS Plan emphasises the importance of services users' views. This report provides practical guidance on how to ensure that older people's views are heard, acted on, and monitored, in relation to service quality. It makes recommendations for ensuring that older people's views become an integral part of home care service provision.
Invisible families
The strengths and needs of Black families in which young people have caring responsibilities
This report investigates the circumstances, needs, views and life experiences of black young people with caring responsibilities. It highlights significant gaps in service provision, which result in young people undertaking caring responsibilities, and makes recommendations to improve services.
On the edge
Minority ethnic families caring for a severely disabled child
This report presents the findings of the first ever national survey in the UK, in which nearly 600 parents took part and which looked at the needs and circumstances of minority ethnic families caring for a severely disabled child. The quantitative survey was then compared with data on the circumstances and experiences of white families.
Making community participation meaningful
A handbook for development and assessment
Community participation is now demanded of virtually all public sector services and programmes. This handbook provides practitioners, community activists, regeneration managers, teachers and academics with the tools needed to ensure that it is effective.
Stronger links
A guide to good practice for children's family-based short-term care services
This new and updated edition will be welcomed at a time of significant change within social services. It offers a legislative framework for each area in practice, in addition to practical guidelines for implementing this legislation. Case studies and material used by existing schemes are included.
What works in assessing community participation?
A document of the results of road-testing two frameworks for assessing community participation: Active partners: Benchmarking community involvement in regeneration (Yorkshire Forward, 2000) and Auditing community participation: An assessment handbook (The Policy Press, 2000).