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BJSW Advance Access first published online on July 30, 2008
This version published online on August 1, 2008
British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcn103
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved

Conducting Needs Assessments in Children's Services

Nick Axford

Nick Axford is a Researcher at Dartington Social Research Unit and Co-editor of the Journal of Children's Services. He has worked over the past ten years in the UK and Ireland on projects to measure children's needs in service and community contexts and use the results to design new services.

Correspondence to Nick Axford, Dartington Social Research Unit, Lower Hood Barn, Dartington, Devon TQ9 6AB, UK. Email: naxford{at}dartington.org.uk


  Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a revival in the popularity of measuring need in developing and developed countries as a precursor to distributing health, education, housing, social security and social care resources. The concept of needs-led children's services has particular purchase in England and Wales, where there is a legal requirement for local authorities to identify and assist ‘children in need’. Yet, children's services agencies have consistently struggled to do this meaningfully and efficiently. This article analyses the strengths and weaknesses of needs assessments in the field before discussing new methods that are appearing. The final section considers how to encourage children's services to shift resources into the new methods.

Keywords: Needs assessments, child welfare, children's services, evidence-based practice, need


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