Family support is an increasingly important strategic approach to welfare services for children and families. This invaluable resource for all professionals engaged in the development and delivery of these services is underpinned by reflective practice values and structured around four themes:

* conceptual frameworks and vocabulary (defining)

* policy and organisational structures and processing (planning)

* tools for creative practice (doing)

* approaches to evaluation (measuring).

Contributors from around the world provide international perspectives on core issues in family support. These include the importance of community, the role of statutory and voluntary agencies, youth advocacy, culturally appropriate family support, child protection, disability services and effective means of evaluation. Providing a combination of clear theoretical frameworks and practical guidance, with clear 'how to' messages and a strong emphasis on evaluation, this book will be of interest to social workers, care staff, teachers, community development and police officers, students, policy-makers, evaluators and all those working in all areas of family support.

About the Author
Neil has over 45 years of experience in the caring professions as a practitioner, manager, educator, writer and adviser. He has won awards for his work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from BASW Cymru. He is renowned for his ability to express complex ideas clearly without oversimplifying them and for making theory relevant to practice. John Canavan is Associate Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, a research and policy centre for which Family Support is a major area of interest. He has over 20 years' experience in undertaking project evaluations and providing policy advice to statutory and voluntary agencies, and to government. Over the last seven years he has led a series of major evaluations on a programme of investment in children's services in Ireland. He teaches on the post qualifying Diploma/MA in Family Support Studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway and co-directs the Structured Ph.D. in Child and Youth Research at the university. His academic writing covers Family Support and related topics, and Evidence Informed Practice. John Pinkerton is an established academic known for his research and writing in the area of family support. His work is heavily influenced by an international perspective. For the last 15 years he has been an international advisor to the Children's Institute, University of Cape Town. In preparation for legislative change in the 1990s he led a research team from Queen's University Belfast in producing a base line study of family support in Northern Ireland. He has advised government on family support in both the North and South of Ireland. His teaching covers both qualifying and post qualifying training in social work. He is Co-Editor of the British Journal of Social Work, leading on its family and child care content. Pat Dolan holds a UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He leads the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre and directs the MA in Family Support Studies, which for over 15 years has had the development of family support as a major goal. At different times in his career he has been a successful practitioner and senior manager in the area of family support. Apart from his extensive research experience in the field, he has provided policy advice on family support to national statutory and voluntary agencies and to international organisations. Pat is widely published on Family Support.

Reviews
This collection is a highly engaging and creative ensemble of insights and approaches to the broad practice of family support. The result is the creation of a rich bed of information that practitioners can link to their own practice... The book is a worthwhile project and an accessible read. From a practice perspective, Family Support is a valuable resource. Pinkerton, in the chapter entitled `Reframing Practice as Family Support' identifies the "key problem at present in the Irish system is the lack of integration of family support into the 'high priority' child protection system". This book will help the reframing of this by creating a positive and constructive discourse on family support work. -- British Journal of Social Work
This is a well organized and comprehensive work. A highly recommended read. -- The Relational Child and Youth Practice Journal
This book is particularly, timely given that it combines core themes at the heart of contemporary childcare practice. -- Children and Society
I think that everyone who works with or develops policy about children and families should read it. Family support ought to be very high on the agenda, and this book helps to inform that debate. -- Children Now
This is a well organized and comprehensive work, and I continue to be impressed by the literature on CYC practice coming from Ireland, Scotland and England... This book can become part of an academic course, a resource for CYC family support teams, and a planning tool for administrators. A highly recommended read. -- The Relational Child and Youth Practice Journal
If you are looking for clarification of the idea of family support in a way that provides readable and understandable links between the concept, policy and organisation, models for practice - then look no further... The book emphasises the importance of reflection and evaluation in the practice of family support by practitioners and has a wealth of interesting reading within it. It is an excellent resource for those of us in the family support field of practice'. -- Community Care
This is an ambitious book in the breadth of its coverage within such a limited sized volume and the authors are to be commended for its coherence and the balance it strikes between challenging the reader conceptually while not losing a clear focus on practice. -- Journal of Interprofessional Care
Family support seen as an important strategic approach to welfare services for children and families. Of interest to anyone working in areas where support to families is part of practice. -- British Institute of Learning Disabilities



Book Information
ISBN 9781843103202
Author Neil Thompson
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publisher Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Weight(grams) 440g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 150mm * 22mm