The supply of funding for children's service provision is limited, and to make the best use of available resources, services must be run efficiently and cost-effectively whilst achieving the central objective of children's well-being.Co-published with the DfES, this book presents the findings of a set of original research studies and reports on the way that care services for children are delivered, the cost of providing services and the extent to which they improve outcomes for children. It looks at services provided by the statutory, for profit and voluntary sectors and examines how resources are distributed and why; what evidence there is of the effectiveness of the different services; and what changes can and should be made to improve efficiency. From the research findings, Jennifer Beecham and Ian Sinclair draw key messages for practice, both on how best to use resources to support children and on how research in this area should be carried out in the future.This is an invaluable book for practitioners, policy makers and managers of social care services for children.Care services for children depend on a limited supply of resources; it is vital that these are used to best effect. This book considers the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of these services and their contribution to children's well-being.The book presents the findings of a set of original research studies. It looks at services provided by the statutory, for-profit and voluntary sectors, examining the way they are delivered and how resources are distributed. It examines the cost of providing particular services, the extent to which they improve outcomes for children and the degree to which they can be considered cost-effective. It explores what changes can and should be made to improve efficiency, paying particular attention to the possible contributions of early intervention and better co-ordination. From the research findings, Jennifer Beecham and Ian Sinclair draw key messages for practice for the use of resources and for future research in this area.This is an invaluable book for those practitioners, policy makers, managers, who are concerned with social care services for children.Foreword. Acknowledgements. 1. Introducing the Book. 2. How the Studies were Done. 3. Delivering Care Services: The Ideal and the Reality. 4. Costs and the Way they Vary. 5. Interventions Unrelated to the Care System. 6. Interventions Related to the Care System. 7. Conclusion. Appendix A: DfES Implementation and Advisory Group Members. Appendix B: Research Studies and Authors. References. Selected reading on parenting programmes. Subject Index. Author Index
