Multi-agency working is a dominant characteristic of emerging policy and practice across the range of social care settings. While this challenging activity places considerable demands at both practice and policy levels, when done well, service users agree it offers enhanced service provision. When delivered ineffectively, it can be frustrating and disempowering. This stimulating introductory text explores the challenges and opportunities for social-work education and practice within the context of multi-agency working. It brings together leading experts from across a range of disciplines, including criminology, mental health, child protection, drugs and alcohol, and education, to give the reader insights into different social care settings. It includes perspectives of those using services as well as describing the relevant legal and policy context and offering an overview of key research findings and contains trigger questions and a recommended resources section within each chapter. With an emphasis on identifying learning that can inform future practice, this text will be an essential text for both qualifying and post qualifying social workers who will go on to practice in diverse and assorted settings.

This text provides graduate students going into the social work field with real world and practical information about what it is really like to work as a social worker. Each chapter presents a true picture of what to expect as a front-line social worker in the given practice setting.

Offering practical advice and guidance on how to establish and maintain effective multi-agency partnership working in your setting, this book will tell you how to meet the Every Child Matters outcomes for children and young people. It clarifies the skills and knowledge required in order to form productive partnerships, and shows you how to set up and maintain good collaborative practice.

Working Together for Children provides an account of the systems and processes of multi-agency work with several groups of children and their families. The key philosophy of the book is that such work is inherently complex, and only by understanding and grappling with these complexities can prospective or practising professionals within children's services contribute really effectively to multi-agency working. This second edition contains updated references to legislation and guidance underpinning multi-agency working, as well as fresh configurations of chapters to reflect new ways of categorising needs of, and organising support for, children in a variety of circumstances. New chapters are included for specific groups of children including coverage of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and youth justice. Reflection on practice, to help link policy with practice, is a theme running throughout the book, which uses features to assist the reader including: - information boxes giving further factual details of particular areas related to multi-agency working - reflective exercises including case studies - questions designed to stimulate reflection on issues raised - an appendix providing points to consider and suggestions for the exercises This introduction is for trainee practitioners in childcare or childhood related courses, education, social work, youth work and health care, or for those already working in such settings who are looking to improve their practice.

What does working in partnership look like in practice? Getting multi-agency working right is an exciting but challenging goal in early years care and education; this book suggests ways to draw together the different professional ideas, methods and targets. Enhancing the delivery of services to children, parents and communities is essential if we are to address the detrimental effects of poverty and exclusion. Looking at the Birth to 8 age range and drawing on interviews with Children's Centre leaders, the book considers: - the benefits, and complexities, of multi-agency working; - what enables, and impedes, good practice; - examples of successful multi-agency working; - what the 'new professionals' look like; - international perspectives. Suitable for all pre-school and early years practitioners working in, or organizing, multi-agency practice at any level, this book is relevant to all those working in Children's Services and useful for anyone studying early childhood or multi-agency working in practice. Michael Gasper is an educational consultant and researcher. He has over 30 years of experience in early years education and research, including roles as a mentor, assessor and tutor on the National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL).

Multi-agency working continues to be a core focus in criminal justice and allied work, with the government investing significantly in training criminal justice professionals. This fully revised and expanded edition of this comprehensive text brings together probation, policing, prison, social work, criminological and organisational studies perspectives, and is an essential guide for students and practitioners in offender management and other managed care environments. The contributors provide critical analysis of the latest theory, policy and practice of multi-agency working and each chapter includes case studies, key points, exercises and further reading.

A topical textbook for students of probation studies and criminal justice which is the first to cover key areas in multi-agency work for criminal justice practice.