The Child's World

Robbie Gilligan is Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin and associate director of the Children's Research Centre. He has written extensively on child care and foster care. Di Hart worked for many years as a child care social worker and manager before taking up a post at NCB developing practice with children in public care. She has a particular interest in children in secure settings. Recent work has included a review of the use of physical restraint in children's services, the development of a care-planning model for looked after children who go into custody and a project aiming to improve outcomes for the children of drug-misusing parents. Gordon Jack has more than 30 years' experience in social work practice, education and research with children and families, and is currently Reader in Social Work at Durham University. Wendy Rose is Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the Open University, UK, and works on national and international child welfare research and development projects. She was previously a senior civil servant advising the government on children's policy. Arnon Bentovim is a Director of Child and Family Training, and a Visiting Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London. He was formerly a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist to the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and the Tavistock Clinic. He was also Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Child Health, University College London. Chris Dearden is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University. She has undertaken extensive research on young carers, and is currently engaged in research on children's perspectives on poverty.

Foreword. 1. Assessing Children in Need: Background and Context. Jan Horwath, University of Sheffield. 2. The Assessment Framework. Wendy Rose, The Open University. 3 The Assessment Process: Practitioner Preparation and Gathering Information for a Core Assessment. Jan Horwath. 4. The Assessment Process: Making Sense of Information, Planning, Interventions and Reviewing Progress. Jan Horwath. 5. Multi-Disciplinary Contributions to Assessment of Children in Need. Peter Sidebotham, Health Sciences Research Institute and Mary Weeks, Designated Nurse for Child Protection, Warwickshire. 6. Engaging children and their parents in the assessment process. Sally Holland, Cardiff University. 7. Here to Listen! Communicating with Children and Methods for Communicating with Children and Young people as part of the Assessment Process. Norma Howes, Social Worker, Psychologist and Psychotherapist, Reading. 8. Supervising Assessments of Children and Families: the Role of the Front Line Manager. Rosemary Gordon and Enid Hendry, both of NSPCC Training. 9. The Developmental Needs of Children: Implications for Assessment. Harriet Ward, Loughborough University and Danya Glaser, Department of Psychological Medicine, Great Ormond Street Hospital. 10. Promoting Positive Outcomes for Children in Need - the Importance of Protective Capacity in the Child and their Social Network. Robbie Gilligan, Trinity College Dublin. 11. Attachment: Implications for Assessing Children's Needs and Parenting Capacity. David Howe, University Of East Anglia. 12. Making Assessment Work for Children with Complex Needs. Ruth Marchant, Triangle. 13. Young Carers: Needs, Rights and Assessments. Chris Dearden, Loughborough University. 14. Assessment before Birth. Di Hart, National Children's Bureau 15. Safeguarding and Prompting the Welfare of Children who have been Sexually Abused: the Assessment Challenges. Arnon Bentovim, University of Central London. 16. Assessment of Parenting. David P H Jones, Consultant Paediatrician, Park Hospital for Children. 17. Assessing Parental Motivation for Change. Tony Morrison, Independent Social Care Trainer and Consultant. 18. The Impact of Domestic Violence, Parental Mental Health Problems, Substance Misuse and Learning Disability on Parenting Capacity. Nicky Stanley, University of Central Lancashire, Hedy Cleaver, Royal Holloway College, University of London and Di Hart. 19. Assessing the Needs and Risk of Re-offending of Young People who Sexually Abuse. Bobbie Print, G-MAP Services Ltd, Helen Bradshaw, the National Probation Service, James Bickley, Chartered Consultant Clinical Psychologist and the University of Birmingham and Marcus Erooga, NSPCC. 20. Assessing the Needs of Black and Minority Ethnic Children and Families. Ratna Dutt, Director, Race Equlity Unit and Melanie Phillips, Independent Chair of a Local Safeguarding Children's Board, London. 21. The Impact of Economic Factors on Parents or Caregivers and Children. Gordon Jack, Durham University and Owen Gill, South West Regional Office, Barnados. 22. The Impact of Family and Community Support on Parents or Caregivers and Children. Gordon Jack and Owen Gill. Contributor Biographies. Index