Managing Fragmentation : An Area Child Protection Committee in a Time of Change

This title was first published in 2002: Providing a fascinating insight into the workings of a large multi-agency committee and charting the history of child protection in the UK, the book explores both multi-agency working and new public management, before moving on to a detailed examination of joint working. The book is unique in its blending of multi-agency working and managerializm with actual examples from the field and will be of interest to practitioners and students alike.

This title was first published in 2002: The rise of New Public Management and the fragmentation of agencies that resulted, created unprecedented new tensions and problems in multi-agency work. This book provides a fascinating insight into the workings of a large multi-agency committee, exploring the manner in which different agencies brought their own agendas, organizational structures and world-views to a multi-agency forum and expected working relationships to be relatively problem free. Charting the development of child protection in the UK, it explores the problems and prospects of both multi-agency working and new public management, under the auspices of joint working initiatives. It offers a unique insight into how members of an area child protection committee viewed working with others, drawing on detailed comments and quotes from those directly involved.