Prevention and early intervention with children in need - Michael Little

This text is based on the fact that all children have needs. Focusing on those who are in need, its main objective is to improve knowledge about how needs can be prevented from emerging in the first place - failing that, about how early action will prevent them persisting.;The essay is aimed at managers and practitioners in health, education, social and police services charged with supporting children in need, particularly children who have or are likely to develop social and psychological difficulties. More specifically, it aims to prove of some value to those responsible for purchasing services on behalf of children in need on the basis of a professional diagnosis or, in a managerial capacity, for commissioning large blocks of provisions.;The essay reaches into many areas of professional work, including early years day care, parental support, the response to family dysfunction and domestic violence, work with juvenile delinquents and young people with other behaviour problems, including some aspects of mental health problems and those that lead to school exclusion.;The essay consists of two equal sections. The first considers different ways of understanding children's needs and their associated social and psychological problems. The second looks at success and failure in responding to children's needs, drawing wherever possible on carefully evaluated programmes and referring to important overviews of research and some policy driven initiatives.