Policy & Practice

This is a qualitative study that documents the daily lives of vulnerable lone mothers and their children in Denmark. Loss of rights, gender and ethnic inequality, and family violence all emerge as key themes with international implications. Policy and practice recommendations are made with wide-ranging applications for an international audience.

As the prospect of a legal right to advocacy inches closer, so the need to scrutinise its key values and practices becomes urgent. Although widely acclaimed as a 'good thing', there is little agreement as to how advocacy should be implemented, funded or evaluated. This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of the benefits of advocacy.

As the new Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service takes over responsibility for the work previously undertaken by family court welfare officers, the experiences of the parents and children reported in this study will provide an invaluable service user perspective for the benefit of policy and practice.

Home zones (areas where cars travel slowly and space has been created for children and environmental improvement) are a common feature of the urban landscape. This handbook explains how to plan and design a home zone in an existing street or as part of a new residential area, including advice and illustrations derived from recent home zone schemes.

In responding to the needs of working parents and employers, the Government has introduced legislation which encourages family-friendly initiatives to be determined jointly and voluntarily between employers and employees. Focusing on the key sector of financial services, Family-friendly working? reviews how companies are handling this process..

This book provides a rigorous and challenging review of recent research in the realms of communication and cultural diversity. Focusing on health communication interventions concerning service users who may lack fluency in English, it shows that meeting the needs of all health service users depends on both structures and processes of communication.

This report is the first evaluation of the structural means by which the meaning of partnership is being operationalised at local level, through the development of local compacts. Using detailed case studies of the development of compacts, the report highlights some of the major barriers to, and key lessons for, effective partnership working

Social rented housing in Britain is undergoing radical reform - often inspired by European experiences. This timely report provides a comparative analysis of the social rented sector in seven European countries. Combined with analysis of labour market and social security systems, it challenges the assumptions behind the British reform agenda.

This report focuses on the use of technology to extend effective governance through remote access and electronic communication in housing associations. It also examines current practice in developing e-strategies, identifies good practice and considers the potential of ICT in enhancing service delivery, accountability and empowering residents.

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.

This report provides a detailed understanding of employers' motivations for offering flexible working and the outcomes of different policies and practices for both employers and employees.

This book summarises and builds on current knowledge and research about direct payments in the UK and considers developments in other European countries. It identifies good practice in the area and explores the implications of direct payments, both for service users and for social work staff.