rtb - publications

Healthy Children, Safer Communities - A strategy to promote the health and well-being of children and young people in contact with the youth justice system

A strategy to ensure that children and young people in the youth justice system (in the community and in secure establishments) get timely access to the health and other services that will best promote their health and well-being. With Zarrina Kurtz.

Evaluation of the pilot Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC)

Interim findings from the first year of this pilot problem-solving court at an Inner-London Family Proceedings Court. See current work page for more information about FDAC. For the interim report, go to the end of the home page at www.brunel.ac.uk/fdacresearch.

When to share information: best practice guidance for everyone working in the youth justice system.

A practical guide for all practitioners and managers across services working with children and young people in contact with the youth justice system.

ONE IN TEN - Key messages from policy, research and practice about young people who are NEET

A review that brings together information about 16- to 18-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training. The review answers some common questions from practice, including how many young people are NEET, why they become and stay so, and the role of formal and non-formal learning in helping young people make a successful transition to adult life. It provides messages for those working with chidlren and families at strategic, operational and practitioner level.

The mental health of young offenders

A chapter that considers, in relation to this group of vulnerable children and young people, needs and interventions, the policy and organisational framework, and best practice in promoting and protecting their mental health. With examples of promising practice in both custodial and community settings.

The role of the court in cases concerning parental substance misuse and children at risk of harm.

An article that links with rtb's work evaluating the pilot Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC). For details of this new problem-solving court, see our current work programme.

Research Briefings for Local Authority Councillors

Outcomes and why they matter (2008)

Promoting mental health for children held in secure settings: a framework for commissioning services

A framework to help develop the local and specialised commissioning needed to ensure the provision of a comprehensive CAMHS for the 3,000 children held in young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure children's homes on custody and welfare grounds.With Zarrina Kurtz. For the Department of Health, the Home Office, the Youth Justice Board and the Department for Education.

Pushed into the shadows: young people's experience of adult mental health facilities

Interviews with children and parents about their experience of adult mental health facilities. With Cathy Street and Joe Roberson, via YoungMinds.

The experiences of fathers involved with social services departments: a literature review

The Involvement of fathers in decisions about and care of their children: a survey of Children's Services

Two chapters in Fathers Matter: research findings on fathers and their involvement with social care services

Mapping needs and interventions for children in the secure estate. A report for the Department of Health

A study of the mental health needs, services and gaps in provision in the 19 young offender institutions in England and Wales, drawing on the views of healthcare, mental health in-reach and other on-site and visiting staff. With Zarrina Kurtz.(2005)

Parental mental health problems - messages from research, policy and practice

A review that distils the findings of UK and international research about the impact of parental mental health problems on children and other family members. It supports the case for bridging the gap between adult and children's services and draws out messages of particular relevance to those commissioning and delivering services for children and families.

How literature reviews can be written to influence practice: the RiP approach

A description of the methodology used to prepare three research and practice reviews - about parental problem drinking, parental substance misuse and parental mental health problems.

Champions for Children: research briefings for local authority councillors

A series of research briefings providing information about key research findings, good practice and policy developments that will help councillors improve outcomes for children and families in need by ensuring that adequate and effective services are provided for them. A fully referenced text for each topic is available on RiP's website:

Outcomes and why they matter (2008)
Promoting mental health for children across children's services (2007)
Safeguarding (2006)
Transition of adolescents to adult mental health services (2006)
Intervening in the Early Years (2005)
School Inclusion for all children (2005)
Harnessing family and community support [Family Group Conferences and Family and Friends' Care] (2004)
Enabling Disabled Children and their Families (2004)
Recruitment and Retention of Foster Carers (2003)

Evaluation of the Parent's Information Service - A National Telephone Helpline

A report of a telephone survey of a sample of adults who have contacted YoungMinds because of concerns about the mental health needs of their child or young relative. With comments on the service received, the outcomes for families, their unmet needs, and sections giving information about research studies and policy issues for each of the main themes covered by the Information Service.

Parental drug misuse - a review of impact and intervention studies

A review of research about the impact of parental drug misuse and promising interventions. The findings are linked to the dimensions of children's lives that practitioners will be familiar with through their assessment work under the NAF and the CAF. They draw mainly on studies published in the past ten years in the UK and Ireland, with additional material from the USA about intervention studies because of the lack of this material in UK and Irish research. The review is produced separately from the one on problem drinking, below, because of the important differences between the two issues.

Parental problem drinking and its impact on children - a research review

This review of research addresses the definition and extent of parental problem drinking, its impact across important dimensions of children's lives, the impact on children as they become adults, and some messages for practice, including a suggested service specification. The main focus is on UK studies published in the last two decades. Aimed primarily at front-line social care workers and their managers, to help when assessing the need for services or delivering appropriate services to children and their families.

Matching Needs & Services: Emerging Themes from its Application in Different Social Care Settings

A chapter describing how the Matching Needs & Services audit tool was developed and tested and has been used by various social care and health agencies and for different samples of children and families. With a particular focus on emerging clusters of need, the use of the tool to achieve ownership of local research findings across agencies, and the contribution of young people and parents to auditing need, identifying outcomes and planning new services.

Working with Fathers

This book extracts the findings about fathers, and about the range of professional responses to them, in the research studies that informed Child Protection: Messages from Research (DH 1995). It discusses the impact of fathers on children's development, gives examples of good practice in working with fathers, highlights issues for future research and lists useful organisations and contacts.

Matching Needs & Services - 2^nd edition

One of the practice tools developed at Dartington as part of its common language work about children in need. It is an audit tool to help agencies collect information on the needs of children in order to plan and implement more effective services and evaluate them to see if they are having the desired effect. It identifies the principal groups of children in need in a local authority area and promotes communication between professionals from different agencies. It also provides a mechanism for incorporating the views of service users in identifying need and planning service responses.

Structure, Culture and Outcome: How to improve residential services for children

This tool can help design better residential services for children in need. It can be used as a stand-alone tool to reflect on what a residential placement for children in need is intended to achieve and how it can improve life for its residents, or it can be used in conjunction with Matching Needs & Services, above, to clarify the needs of the children being looked after and how residential placements can help achieve desired outcomes for them and the range of professional responses to them.

The Children Act 1989: Putting it into Practice (second edition)

A practical guide to those parts of the Children Act 1989 that relate to the provision of services by local authorities to children and families, dealing in particular with the powers and duties of local authorities in relation to children in need, child protection and care and supervision proceedings. It combines a discussion of the legal framework of the Act with information about good social and legal practice, relevant research and recent case law. It is grounded on the author's practical experience of providing an advice and advocacy service for families and training for social workers, lawyers and other child care professionals.

Mechanisms for Empowerment: family group conferences and local family advocacy schemes.

A chapter that describes two mechanisms for empowerment that were developed in the mid-1990s under the auspices of Family Rights Group, a national organisation with a long-standing reputation for promoting user participation in children and family services. The first is family group conferences - its development and philosophy, its introduction to the UK from New Zealand, early findings from research studies, and how it works in practice. The second mechanism is family advocacy - with comment on its slow growth, the impetus provided by the Children Act 1989, and the essential elements for successful local schemes.