A new edition of the Journal of Children’s Services, guest-edited by Nick Gould and Ian Butler from the University of Bath, UK, examines the nature, quality and use of evidence in the development of children’s services.

Earlier this year, researchers Michael Little and Dwan Kaoukji had the opportunity to work with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Ethiopia to help develop a service to prevent children from the risks of being sexual exploited.   

Despite the legal requirement that local authorities should identify and assist ‘children in need’, children’s services agencies are still struggling to do so meaningfully and efficiently, we argue in the latest edition of the British Journal of Social Work.

Joining us from sunny Scotland is recent psychology graduate Kate Tobin. During her studies at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow she developed a keen interest in high quality innovative qualitative research, particularly within health improvement.

The relevance of religious symbolism to the social sciences – and to everyday life in a "postmodern" world – is a focus for debate at the latest meeting of the Centre for Social Policy, which takes place at Dartington Hall, today and tomorrow.

Much in the Research Unit evidence archive resonates with this week’s promise by PM Gordon Brown to make a formal apology to all children who were shipped between the UK and Australia, Canada and other former colonies in the post war period.

Research assistant Matthew Jonas has left the Social Research Unit to take up a position with SERIO, the Socio-Economic Research and Intelligence Observatory based at Plymouth University.

The Social Research Unit is to play a key role in helping decision makers and service providers in the Greater London Authority (GLA) to judge the effectiveness of prevention and early intervention programmes.

Changes have been announced to the Board of the Warren House Group at Dartington, the charity that supports the work of the Social Research Unit. Roger Bullock and Gillian Downham are standing down as trustees after serving their maximum terms.

Unit thinking about the role in children’s services of ‘operating systems’ as a framework for evidence-based programmes, cost-benefit analysis and reliable evaluation was discussed at the annual conference of the UK Association of Directors of Children’s Services.