The zoom seminar held in April had three contributions. Jeffrey Butts, Director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York, discussed the much-cited concept of the 'crime rate' and explored the factors that determine it. His slides are HERE. Jolyon Miles-Wilson and Celestin Okoroji, researchers from BlackThrive,  then presented findings from their study of geographic variation in stop and search and the analytic value of the software package ‘extractss’. Their slides are HERE. In the final session, Christine Bradley described her forthcoming book Trauma in Children and Young People - Reaching the Hea…

 

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The December seminar focused on Integrating International, National and Local Planning of Welfare Services. Katherine Zapone, former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in Ireland and a UN Commissioner, spoke about planning at international and national levels, Geoff Little, CEO of Bury MB, discussed planning in local government and Tim Hobbs and Katie Potter described a multi-disciplinary national initiative in the UK - Kailo, a systemic approach to improve adolescent mental health (see https://kailo.community). Geoff Little's slides are here.  …

 

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A zoom seminar was held in June and comprised three presentations. Hannah Wilson on Improving Services for Child Victims of Domestic Abuse (here), Jason Strelitz on Promoting Public Health in an Inner-London Borough - Lessons from Covid (here) and the Dartington Service Design Lab's senior management team on the Lab's Strategy Paper, An Integrated Approach to Evidence for Those Working to Improve Outcomes for Children & Young People (here).…

 

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A joint CSP/Mulberry Bush Child Care History Network on 50 Years of Early Years Provision (1971-2021) was organised but could not take place due to Covid. The four presentations: Sonia Jackson, How the Plowden Report (1967) sent Early Childhood Care and Education in Britain down the wrong path, and why we have never found our way since; Gillian Pugh, Transforming the early years 1975 – 2005: a personal perspective, Naomi Eisenstadt Sure Start Review, Teresa Smith, Narrowing the Gap? EPAs to Children's Centres 1971-2021: 50 years of research on implementation and outcomes; and Roger Bullock Day Care: The wider policy context were published a special edition of the Mulberry Bus…

 

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The December zoom seminar had four contributions. Judith Masson from the Law School, Bristol University, discussed whether adoption has a future and examined recent trends in the use of different types: relinquishment, step-parent, intercountry and adoptions from care. Judith's slides are here. CSP fellow Roger Bullock then offered a tribute to the late Sir Michael Rutter which can be read here. On the second day Bruce Houlder, a retired lawyer, spoke about the new charity he has founded, fightingknifecrime.London, which seeks to help coordinate services designed to tackle the social issues underlying the problem . In the final session Ediane Santana de Lima discussed a new Lab project …

 

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June 2021 A zoom meeting was held on June 16th and 17th. Contributors included Carmen Pinto from the Maudsley Hospital on Formulating complexity in adopted and looked after children. A link to Carmen's paper is here. Dominic Abrams from the University of Kent on Policy framework, development and delivery in the COVID decade – possibilities and prospects - his slides are here. Sarah Blower from the University of York on Enhancing Social-Emotional Health and Wellbeing in the Early Years (the E-SEE project) - her slides are here. Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin the Dartington Service design Lab director in Scotland on Achieving similar ends via differe…

 

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The (zoom) seminar opened with Ken Taylor from Wisconsin offering lessons from current US children's services for the UK. He discussed fragmentation, rising demand, race, equality and equity, demographic changes and political beliefs. Ken's slides are here. Sir Michael Marmot, director of the Institute for Health Equity, University College, London, charted recent trends in health inequalities in the UK and compared the findings in Ten Years On and Covid-19 Review with those in his 2010 report Fair Society, Healthy Lives. Tim Hobbs, CEO of the Dartington Service Design Lab, then talked about New Horizons for Evidence and economist Tony Ellison explained why income and wealth inequal…

 

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A zoom seminar was held on the 2nd and 3rd December 2020.  The programme opened with Jenny Simpson (Nottingham Trent University) discussing A reconceptualisation of 'contact' between separated young people and their families in the light of new technologies.(SLIDES). Then, Patrick Diamond (Queen Mary College, London), Tim Hobbs (Dartington Service Design Lab) and Roger Bullock (CSP) discussed How should research, journal publications and social science teaching respond to the ideologies underpinning Brexit and the political drift to the right, manifest in the thinking and policies ideas of many current international leaders? On the second day, Finlay Green (Dart…

 

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A joint Mulberry Bush Child Care History Network/CSP webinar on Care of Young Offenders Progress or Decline? was held over two half days on October 9th and 12th. The first day's discussion covered the history and demise of approved schools, provision for girls and young peoples' experiences of the system. The second day focused on current issues in youth justice, new developments in YOIs and issues affecting the treatment of trauma in secure settings.  A report of the day is here.  …

 

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The seminar at Buckfast Abbey on December 4th and 5th had five contributions. Nigel Lowe, Emeritus Professor at Cardiff Law School discussed an international project to harmonise European family law and construct a charter giving an ‘ideal type’ and standard for countries to compare themselves with others when fashioning policy. Nigel’s slides are HERE. The second session showed the final version of the recording of the interview with Mervyn Murch, Emeritus Professor at Cardiff Law School, covering his life’s work in reforming family law and recommendation in his recent book Supporting Children whose Parents Separate. Matt Woolgar, consultant psychologist, then discus…

 

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November 2019 CSP fellows were invited to a discussion about future plans for the Pembroke House Settlement in Walworth, London. The ‘settlement movement’ was a late 19th century initiative in the UK and USA whereby prestigious educational establishments, such as public schools and universities, set up residential centres in poor parts of cities. Students were involved with the aim of providing education and cultural activities as well as welfare services to the local residents. Pembroke House was founded by the undergraduates at Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1885 and has been a centre for social action and a residential community ever since. The discussion explored how the sett…

 

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November 2019 Fellows attended a public lecture at Bristol University by Roger Bullock on Abolishing the Public Schools: Lessons from Research and History. It began by unravelling the complications surrounding intentions to abolish public schools and all forms of private education in the UK. It then discussed the economic, social and political factors likely to affect plans and the importance of considering wider moral issues of social justice, fairness, opportunity and freedom of choice. It concluded by reviewing reforms that might be realistic. View the supporting paper here.  …

 

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  The June 2019 seminar was held at the Lab’s offices at Buckfast Abbey and had four contributions. Patrick Diamond from Queen Mary, London spoke about what it means to be a social policy expert in an age of ‘post-truth’ democracy. It explored the current state of evidence-based policy in the UK and the developments that strengthen and challenge its use. Patrick's slides are here. Tim Hobbs, director of the Dartington Service Design Lab, then discussed the Lab’s achievements in its first two years and outlined future plans, inviting observations and advice from fellows. Martin Knapp from the LSE described the dementia challenge caused by the growing num…

 

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A joint seminar with the Mile End Institute, Queen May College, London, entitled ‘Parents, Poverty and the State’, was held in the Graduate Centre on May 23rd at which the main speaker was Naomi Eisenstadt, first director of SureStart UK. She described her experiences after arrival from the US of working in family centres in Edinburgh and Buckinghamshire and how she was asked to direct the national SureStart early years programme for children and families initiated by the Labour Government of 1997. She outlined the conditions necessary for successful implementation at national and local levels and outlined the benefits that SureStart offered alongside other statutory and voluntar…

 

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The seminar held at the Lab's offices comprised four contributions. Vashti Berry from the Exeter Medical School discussed a new service being trialled in the South West, Life and Leadership Coaching - a promising behaviour change approach for improving the empowerment, efficacy and well-being of carers who are parenting alone following domestic violence. Kate Tobyn from the Dartington Service Design Lab then explained how findings from a the Lab's research in Scotland is informing the development of services designed to prevent suicide among young people - currently a matter of some national concern. On the second day, Mervyn Murch then led a discussion of his new book Supporting C…

 

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