Family support is an increasingly important strategic approach to welfare services for children and families. This invaluable resource for all professionals engaged in the development and delivery of these services is underpinned by reflective practice values and structured around four themes:

* conceptual frameworks and vocabulary (defining)

* policy and organisational structures and processing (planning)

* tools for creative practice (doing)

* approaches to evaluation (measuring).

Contributors from around the world provide international perspectives on core issues in family support. These include the importance of community, the role of statutory and voluntary agencies, youth advocacy, culturally appropriate family support, child protection, disability services and effective means of evaluation. Providing a combination of clear theoretical frameworks and practical guidance, with clear 'how to' messages and a strong emphasis on evaluation, this book will be of interest to social workers, care staff, teachers, community development and police officers, students, policy-makers, evaluators and all those working in all areas of family support.

Foreword. 1. Family Support: From Description to Reflection by Pat Dolan, John Pinkerton, Queen's University Belfast, and John Canavan, Child& Family Research and Policy Unit, Galway. Section A: Engaging with Policy and Organisation. 2. School as a Base for Family Support Services by Ilan Katz, Children and Young People's Unit, London. 3. Family Support as Community-Based Practice: Considering a Community Capacity Framework for Family Support Provision by Robert J. Chaskin, Chapin Hall Centre for Children, University of Chicago. 4. Supporting Families through Local Government: A Danish Case Study by Peter Steen Jensen and René Junker, Municipality of Odense, Denmar. 5. Implementing Family Support Policy: Empowering Practitioners by Alex Wright, Glasgow University. 6. A Comparative Perspective: Exploring the Space for Family Support by Michelle Millar NUI, Galway. Section B: Using concepts, frameworks and tools. 7. Safeguarding Children Through Supporting Families by Ruth Gardner, Royal Holloway College, London. 8. Youth Advocacy: Programming Justice-Focused Intervention: Family Support Intervention by Jeff Fleischer, Youth Advocacy Programme, and Judy Warner. 9. Supporting families with disabled children: A Case Study by Rosemary Kilpatrick. 10. Enhancing Support for Young People in Need: Reflections on Informal and Formal Sources of Help by Pat Dolan and Brian McGrath. 11. Cultural Competence, Cultural Sensitivity and Family Support by Fatima Husain. 12. Reframing Practice as Family Support - Leaving Care by John Pinkerton. 13. Assessment, Intervention and Self Appraisal Tools for Family Support by Pat Dolan. 14. Culturally Appropriate Family Support Practice: Working with Asian Populations by Monit Cheung and Patrick Leung. Section C: Advancing Evaluation 15. Developing an outcome Evaluation Framework for use by Family Support Programs by Charles Bruner. 16. School- and Family-level Income Effects in a Randomized Controlled Prevention Trial: A Multilevel Analysis by W. Todd Abraham and Daniel W. Russell, Institute for Social Behavioral Research, Iowa State University, Max Guyll, Linda Trudeau, Catherine Goldberg-Lillehoj and Richard Spoth, Partnerships in Prevention Science Institute, Iowa State University. 17. Towards an Inclusive Approach to Family Support Evaluation by Jackie Sanders and Robyn Munford. 18. Reflecting for Action: The Future of Family Support by John Canavan.