Evaluating Family Support Thinking Internationally, Thinking Critically [Hardcover]

The delivery of effective family support is a key global childwelfare issue, yet there is little consensus on what constitutesfamily support or what the best ways are to evaluate it.

Evaluating Family Support: Thinking Internationally, ThinkingCritically offers a full review of the conceptual andoperational problems involved in this complex and topicalfield.

Ilan Katz and John Pinkerton have brought together a team ofexperienced child care policy analysts and evaluators to presentthe current state of critical thinking alongside detailedinternational case studies. The chapters offer revealing glimpsesinto the nature of family support across the world, as well as anoverview of the challenges facing both practitioners andresearchers.List of Illustrations.

About the Editors.

List of Contributors.

Foreword by Heather B. Weiss.

Acknowledgements.

PART I: THE NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON.

1. Perspective through International Comparison in theEvaluation of Family Support (John Pinkerton and Ilan Katz).

PART II: UNDERPINNING ISSUES.

2. Political and Technical Issues Facing Evaluators of FamilySupport (Jane Tunstill).

3. Social Exclusion, Family Support and Evaluation (CorinneMay-Chahal, et al.).

4. The Value of Resilience as a Key Concept in Evaluating FamilySupport (Robbie Gilligan).

5. Issues in Evaluating Family Support Services: An AmericanPerspective (Peter Pecora).

6. Comparative Research as a Method of Evaluating Systems(Rachael Hetherington).

PART III: 'CASE STUDIES' FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

7. National Policy Making and the Need to Evaluate FamilySupport in the Republic of Ireland (Catherine Hazlett).

8. A Cultural£&