The increasing use of performance measurement in child welfare promises to have
significant consequences. Performance indicators are not neutral or merely technical—they …

Since the 1980s child protection agencies have been subject to enormous scrutiny about
perceived poor performance. Concerns are expressed about the capacity of services to cope …

In 1998, the government White Paper Modernising Social Services (Department of Health
1998c) shifted the focus away from who was providing welfare services towards closer …

Performance measurement and contracting out are central elements of new public
management systems. At first sight these elements seem necessarily connected for reasons …

With the introduction of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, Health and Social Care
Trusts in Northern Ireland have been engaged in a refocusing of children's services, shifting …

Services for families and children are rightfully the focus of intense scrutiny and debate, and
there is a clear need to establish a knowledge of which services work well. This volume …

Approaches arising from the publication of performance data for adult social care in the UK
nationally have led to unintended and often perverse consequences. A case is made in this …

Purpose There are often calls for more focus on outcomes in Children's Social Care yet
there is little consensus on what these outcomes should be. Key challenges include who …

Summary The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is an electronic system for assessing
children and sharing information between child welfare professionals, which is at various …

This paper explores key conceptual frameworks for measurement in child-protection (CP)
services and considers their application in the English statutory system. After introducing …