CTC : the story so far : an interim evaluation of Communities That Care

This report is about the development of a programme designed to help children and young people to grow up in safer and more caring communities. It describes the origins of the programme and the early stages of its implementation in the United Kingdom. The report was written as part of what will eventually be a more thorough evaluation of that programme. It was written at a time when the areas in which the programme was being developed had analysed the problems they faced and were about to implement initiatives designed to address those problems. It therefore covers only the first stages of a process in which communities seek to reduce the risks facing children, young people and their families, and to enhance those elements that will protect them and promote their well-being. It is nonetheless important to document that process – to look at what has been done, how it has been done and what lessons can be learned from what was done

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the new local safeguarding children boards (LSCBS)

Introduction Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) were implemented in April 2006 to replace Area Child Protection Committees (ACPCs). The Boards have a statutory responsibility to co-ordinate and ensure the effectiveness of the work of partner bodies to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. LSCB functions include: the development of policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; communicating and raising awareness; participating in planning and commissioning children’s services; collecting and analysing information about child deaths; undertaking serious case reviews and monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of what is done. The Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP), in partnership with the Centre for Children and Family Research (CCFR) (both based at Loughborough University) are undertaking an evaluation to explore the structures and processes adopted by LSCBs to fulfil their core functions. The study will also examine whether these new structures and processes have overcome identified weaknesses of Area Child Protection Committees (ACPCs) and promoted co-operation between services responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children

Youth and citizenship in the 1990s : an ethnography of life in Westhill.

This thesis examines the meanings and experiences of citizenship for a particular group of working class young people. By using an ethnographic methodology it identifies the different social processes that influence how they experience citizenship and how they perceive themselves as present and future citizens. Ideas proposed by T.H. Marshall have dominated post war discourses on citizenship, but these have failed to explain what it means to the young working class to be a citizen. The meaning of youth has historically and culturally undergone change. What it means to be young and working class is greatly influenced by factors such as, the cultural context of community life, the structural relationships of production and consumption, and the wider ideological meanings and policies of political movements such as those of the New Right. It is within this context that citizenship in the 1990s, as a way of life for the young working class,needs to be understood. Sites such as community, work, and leisure and consumption remain central to young people's experience of citizenship. It is in these sites where they gain support and status towards moving into the adult world. Yet changes, especially in work and leisure, are making life increasingly difficult for the young. Opportunities to undertake transitions into adulthood are being affected by the lack of opportunities for full employment, the growth of social divisions and increased generational conflict. These can then undermine young people's feelings of responsibility and obligations.Young women's experience and meanings of citizenship differ from those of young men. Expectations of others around sexuality and gender are influential in 'shaping' young women's choices and opportunities. Young working class women are clearly aware of this and attempt to develop strategies within relationships and the job market which help them resist the inevitability of the 'motherhood trap'. Young people's responses to their experiences of citizenship are to reject the system that claims to represent their interests, that of Parliamentary democracy. But this is not to say that the young are non political, as they construct and act upon their own 'political theories' of the world. It may also be the case that if a wider definition of the 'political' is constructed, then certain actions around 'resistance', 'defence' and 'survival' could also be deemed as possible political responses to their experiences of citizenship

Mastering Youth Transitions : Italy as a Case for the Contemporary Complexities

none4siopenAlan France, Orazio Giancola, Lara Maestripieri, Martina VisentinFrance, Alan; Giancola, Orazio; Maestripieri, Lara; Visentin, Martin

Introduction: the poverty of policy? Gaps in anti-poverty policy for children and young people

Introduction: the poverty of policy? Gaps in anti-poverty policy for children and young peopl

The evaluation of arrangements for effective operation of the new Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England - Brief

Introduction and Background: Both the statutory inquiry into the tragic death of Victoria Climbié (2003) and the first joint Chief Inspectors’ Report on Safeguarding (Chief Inspector of Social Services et al., 2002) emphasise the importance of effective joint working between agencies and professionals to safeguard children from harm and to promote their welfare. Subsequent policy developments, underpinned by the Children Act 2004, are intended to ensure an integrated approach to service provision and that children achieve their potential in terms of being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being (HM Government, 2004). Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Government, 2006: p.10) identifies one of the most important developments in this context as the establishment of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs). The Boards put former Area Child Protection Committees (ACPCs) on a statutory footing. Research had found that ACPCs’ lack of statutory power had limited their effectiveness (Chief Inspector of Social Services et al., 2002). A series of other weaknesses were also identified including: variations in levels of representation and membership, structure and practice, poor leadership and insufficient resources (Chief Inspector of Social Services et al., 2002; Horwath and Glennie, 1999; Narducci, 2003; Ward et al., 2004)

Colonial Privileges in a Settler Society: Disparities of Cultural Capital in a University Setting

Drawing on forty one-on-one interviews with third year students from The University of Auckland, this study contrasts the experiences of students from working- and upper-class backgrounds. In particular, the study demonstrates how working-class students, most of whom come from Indigenous Māori and Pacific ethnic backgrounds, are forced to navigate obstacles infused with interpersonal and institutional racism. These students also report a stigmatising awareness of their lack of privilege and sense of obligation to give back to their ethnic communities. In contrast students from upper-class backgrounds, though hard-working, discuss a litany of opportunities extending their academic and occupational privilege. These capital-building opportunities are tightly connected to consistent family support in the form of gifted money, flexible work options, and networks that enhance professional experience. Working with kaupapa Māori and Bourdeausian conceptual frameworks, the study highlights privileged students’ ability to access and extend their objectified cultural capital, as less economically privileged students work their way through colonial blockades and classed pitfalls. Given the clear disparities expressed by study participants, the research suggests universities radically reframe how resources are allocated to students from diverse backgrounds