Working together in children's services

The importance of inter-agency co-operation within children’s services has been highlighted within recent government strategy, including the Every Child Matters agenda, the development of children’s centres and the expansion of extended schools. Following tragic cases such as that of Victoria Climbié, the need for effective multidisciplinary teamwork and inter-agency co-operation across all education and care settings remains as pressing as ever.

Working together in children’s services addresses a range of theoretical perspectives and contexts to stimulate students’ and practitioners’ critical thinking about the issues of multi-agency working. The book provides the reader with a critical framework for understanding both new and future developments and explores key issues such as:

• the notion of ‘working together’ and what it means in practice
• the benefits of and barriers to multi-agency work
• current policy and requirements for successful inter-disciplinary working
• essential skills for inter-professional teamwork.