Integrated data systems are often used to inform decision making at the top tiers of local or state government. Policymakers use analyses based on large numbers of integrated data system (IDS) records (from which personal identifying information has been removed) to understand the overlap between cases that receive services from different systems…

Following on from the article "Building Capacity in Social Care: An Evaluation of a National Programme of Action Learning Facilitator Development" (Abbott, C., L. Burtney, and C. Wall. 2013. "Action Learning: Research & Practice" 10 (2): 168--177), this article describes how action learning is being introduced in Cornwall…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation is an important policy intervention aimed at changing school, district, and state department of education policies and practices to improve student outcomes. These efforts are compromised because NCLB does not prioritize the conditions necessary for improving academic outcomes. One such necessary condition…

The importance of giving young people a say in casework has received much attention in recent years. Little attention, however, has been given to the question of how to educate youth workers as a way of ensuring young people's involvement in such professional practices. This paper reports on a model for preparing youth workers for participatory…

As schools become increasingly diverse through immigration and growth of minority groups, it is important that school counselors incorporate culturally sensitive ethical decision-making in their practice. The use of Western ethical theories in the application of professional codes of ethics provides a specific perspective in ethical…

One of the few truly reassuring features of not-knowing among youth workers is the realization that not-knowing cannot last forever. Eventually, some feature of the situation shifts, and youth workers move back into the capacity for action. This chapter describes the last of five themes associated with youth workers' experiences of not knowing…

A gap exists between research and practice within the field of intellectual disability. In particular, researchers suggest that personal choice enhances quality of life. Following Bourdieu's suggestion to focus on improving the practice of theory rather than the theory of practice, this paper is a reflexive ethnography detailing my struggles to…

The use of polarity analysis in child abuse case management provides a way to identify interdependent polar opposites, their positive and negative consequences, and actions to manage them over time, rather than compete for one right solution. An example of polarity analysis is presented with the two poles being parental autonomy and the agency as…

Suggests a decision-making model based on case-management procedures for permanency planning in foster care. Permanency planning is offered as an alternative to counter the drift of children in foster care. (CM)

Noting that risk assessment models are controversial and vary in definition, purposes, and risk criteria, reviews and contrasts 10 models used to guide decision making concerning the placement of maltreated children in out-of-home care. Found that models varied on pertinent criteria for assessing child risk, and identified six areas for further…