Locality-based Working in Integrated Children's Services in Scotland

John Cassidy

20 November 2008

This study of the integration of services for children and young people, published by EMIE at NFER in collaboration with ADES and VSC Scotland, was designed to gather information from practitioners in four local authorities in Scotland over a short period of time, with a view to producing a snapshot of current practice and the issues associated with it. The report presents the views of key personnel on the progress and practice in integrating services for children and young people in the four identified areas. It was produced primarily for practitioners involved in delivering services for children and families.

The research focuses on:

• the identification of key factors in practice, which are currently enabling or challenging the full embedding of integrated working across agencies providing services for children and families
• the impact of current practices on the progress that is being made in embedding integrated working in children`s services
• the views of practitioners on the effectiveness of current practice and areas where changes or further actions would be beneficial for embedding integrated working.

About the author

John Cassidy is a consultant for E3Net and a former teacher. As well as holding a range of promoted posts in secondary schools and local authorities in Scotland, he has also been a lecturer in the Management of Education Unit at Glasgow University and a senior researcher in Strathclyde University`s politics department. His doctorate is in evaluation research and he has been a tutor in the education faculty of the Open University. Extensive experience of leading multi-agency projects and research projects in a range of education contexts has supported his ongoing interest in evaluating the impact of integrated working in children`s services.