Monthly Spotlights

July 2011

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (UK)

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is a UK-based charity that funds research and development programmes in the UK. The foundation focuses upon research and programmes that address the causes of social problems, the methods for overcoming them and how to meet social needs in practice.

The Foundation disseminates publications on a range of topics including: income and poverty; housing and communities; and equality, diversity and inclusion. Each publication is provided in full, along with a user-friendly summary of key points.

Although small proportion of the Foundation's publications are specifically focused upon the United Kingdom, most would be useful to practitioners and policy-makers in Australia.

June 2011

The Commissioning Toolkit (UK)

The Commissioning Toolkit is a searchable, online database of parenting programs available in England. Although the programs listed in the Toolkit are not based in Australia, many of them will still be relevant to the Australian context.

All of the programs included in the Toolkit are evaluated and rated according to four key elements (e.g., the target population and how the program content is designed to meet their needs). The programs are searchable by category (e.g., level of need, delivery setting) and the information about the programs is presented in a user-friendly format.*

The Commissioning Toolkit would be most useful to policy-makers and service delivery professionals who are interested in exploring the potential of a range of different types of parenting programs and their appropriateness for specific populations.

*In order to access the programs users are required to register for a free user account.

May 2011

Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services (UK)

The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services (C4EO) identifies and coordinates evidence about ‘what works’ in the UK to improve outcomes for children, young people and families.

One of the resources C4EO coordinates that is likely to be of particular interest to child and family service professionals in Australia is the Local Practice Examples. Similar to the CAFCA Promising Practice Profiles, the C4EO Local Practice Examples profile validated promising practices according to key themes such as early years, child poverty and early intervention. Some of the local practice examples include case study videos that provide further insight into what promising practices look like in practice.

Other useful C4EO resources include ‘Progress Maps’ that highlight specific issues and outline what is known about that issue and what services can do to address the issue and e-learning resources. (These can found under the individual themes on the home page).

Many of the resources produced by C4EO will be relevant to practitioners and policy-makers in Australia.

April 2011

National Investment for the Early Years (NIFTeY)

NIFTeY advocates for investment in the crucial early period of life and provides information on the importance of the early years (including the prenatal period) to health, development and well-being throughout life.

NIFTeY aims to promote development, implementation and evaluation of strategies in the early years of life that advance the health, development and wellbeing of all children in Australia. This includes advancing community knowledge and the support and education of parents. Furthermore, the provision of resources and services and encouraging research relevant to the early years of children's life.

NIFTeY's website has a range of resources which may be helpful for practitioners and policy makers working with young children.

March 2011

Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC)

SNAICC seeks to collaborate with government and non-government organisations to improve awareness and understanding of the interests, rights and needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.

In their advocacy and policy advice roles SNAICC have developed a sound research base which is available on their website. This covers a range of topics including culture, governance and capacity, health, parenting, family violence and child abuse.

These resources are highly relevant to practitioners and policy makers who work with Indigenous families and children.

February 2011

California Department of Education - Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundation

The Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundation is a comprehensive (2009) publication aimed at describing research and evidence-based expectations for the way most infants and toddlers make progress in the four major domains of social-emotional, language, cognitive, and perceptual and motor development.

The descriptions of competencies are illustrated with examples of typical behaviors at each age level as well as behaviors leading up to attainment of those competencies. The publication's counterpart is the Infant/Toddler Learning & Development Program Guidelines.

The document is available as a PDF or it can be viewed in full on the Californian Department of Education website. Hyperlinks are provided to navigate to various points of interest in the document

January 2011

The New Zealand Families Commission

The New Zealand Families Commission (Komihana a whanau) seeks to promote a better understanding of the issues and needs of families in New Zealand among government agencies and the broader community.

The Commission regularly conducts research on families in New Zealand on topics such as: accessing support services, food insecurity and the impact of recession. Reports on research conducted are freely available on the Families Commission website.

Most of the resources produced by the New Zealand Families Commission are relevant to the Australian context and would therefore be useful to practitioners and policy-makers in Australia.

December 2010

Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC): Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales - Publications

The SPRC conducts research on all aspects of social policy, promotes research training through postgraduate study and is highly influential in policy development and evaluation.

In disseminating its own research findings and those of other academics and primary research agencies, the SPRC has designed a publications page that is simple to use and in an academic friendly layout (ALL titles are presented in full bibliographic detail). In terms of content, the SPRC report Series, general report listings and SPRC Newsletters present the latest in policy development issues across the full sphere of policy based social research.

November 2010

The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (UK)

The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion is a multi-disciplinary research centre and is part of the London School of Economics and Political Science. The Centre focuses on the various dimensions of social disadvantage, especially from longitudinal and neighbourhood perspectives, with examinations of the impact of public policy.

The Centre's CASE Briefs provide excellent summaries of issues relevant to social disadvantage including topics such as: the dynamics of neighbourhood decline and renewal, welfare to work policies and unemployment.

Although some of the resources produced by the Centre are specifically related to England, many of the resources would be useful to practitioners and policy-makers in Australia.

October 2010

Australian Domestic Violence Clearinghouse

The Australian Domestic Violence Clearinghouse is funded by the Australian Government and provides high quality information about domestic and family violence issues and practice.

The Clearinghouse aims to prevent domestic and family violence by supporting specialist and generalist service providers, government agencies, researchers, advocates and activists through the dissemination of information and research, and through facilitating discussion.

Their publications focus on key issues, policy, legislation, training and new initiatives, while their online databases offer research and resource information, good practice programs and a separate compilation of Indigenous research resources.

September 2010

Children of Parents with a Mental Illness (COPMI) - GEMS

The COPMI initiative is undertaken by the Australian Infant Child Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association (AICAFMHA). The overall aim of the initiative is to promote better mental health outcomes for children (0 - 18 years) of parents with a mental health problem or disorder.

COPMI publishes useful bi-monthly snapshots known as 'Gateways to Evidence that Matters' (GEMS). GEMS are prepared as a resource for practitioners and provides a synthesis of available Australian and international research concerning children of parents with a mental illness, their parents and families.

In highlighting current research and practice gaps, GEMS is effective in promoting the collection, interpretation and integration of valid, recent and relevant research from around the world.

August 2010

Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development (Canada)

The Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development is produced by the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development in Canada. It is intended for policy-makers, service planners and service providers and for parents.

This on-line encyclopedia covers 40 topics related to the psychosocial development of the child, from conception to the age of five. For each topic, a series of articles written by international experts presents up-to-date scientific knowledge. A synthesis of this knowledge in a simplified format is also provided for each topic addressing three questions - How important is it? What do we know? What can be done?

New expert articles are added regularly to the website - in July, articles on maternal depression, numeracy and sleeping behaviour were added. Since each topic is evidence informed, the Encyclopedia provides a useful resource for service providers, parents and policy makers.

July 2010

Closing the Gap Clearinghouse

The Closing the Gap Clearinghouse is a Council of Australian Government's (COAG) initiative jointly funded by all Australian Governments. It provides access to evidence-based research on overcoming disadvantage for Indigenous Australians.

The Clearinghouse's resources are designed to meet the information needs of policy-makers and service providers. Key resources are the Quality-assessed and General Collections. These collections can be browsed using the six COAG building blocks, one of which is early childhood.

The Clearinghouse will produce issues papers and resources sheets in 2010-11. Email newsletters, news feeds and information on forthcoming events are currently available.

June 2010

The Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (Scotland)

The CRFR is a consortium research centre, based at the University of Edinburgh, which produces, encourages and disseminates high quality social research on families and relationships. CRFR aims to make research more accessible to practitioners and policy makers.

The Centre produces research reports and research briefings on specific issues related to families such as young fathers and their experience of forming families, children's perspectives on contact with fathers after domestic violence and consulting with children and parents about children's services.

Although some of the resources produced by the CRFR are specifically targeted to professionals working in Scotland, many of the resources would be useful to practitioners and policy-makers in Australia.

May 2010

The Benevolent Society resources

The Benevolent Society focuses on growing and sharing knowledge on social issues in Australia.

Their Resources page provides access to evaluation reports, conference presentations and newsletters. In addition, the page provides access to Benevolent Society research reports, some of which are accompanied by 'research snapshots' - brief, accessible summaries of research findings of projects conducted by The Benevolent Society. A range of topics are covered, including children & families.

April 2010

Social Inclusion Board publications

The Australian Social Inclusion Board provides access to a range of publications.

These include the Board’s report on how Australia is faring on social inclusion. Research papers are available on topics such as Markedly Socially Disadvantaged Localities in Australia and, Social Inclusion and Early Childhood Development.

Social inclusion is an important aspect of all current policy making. The site is a useful resource for policy makers who are seeking to address social disadvantage and develop policies inclusive of all Australians.

March 2010

Father Inclusive Practice

The Family Action Centre at the University of Newcastle aims to promote the wellbeing of children by engaging fathers and father-figures in the lives of children. An important part of this work is developing the capacity of those who work with families to engage fathers.

The Father Inclusive Practice pages at the Family Action Centre acknowledges that most professionals working with fathers understand the importance of engaging fathers but may need support to implement father-inclusive practice. A list of competencies are outlined that describe specific skills, knowledge and attitudes useful to engaging fathers in 7 practice areas such as group work, working with Indigenous fathers, and using play with fathers in a multi-cultural setting.

The father-inclusive site is a useful resource for agencies and practitioners who seek to improve their engagement of fathers in their services.

February 2010

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet seeks to reduce the inequalities in health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by making research and other relevant information accessible.

Key features of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet site are the 'e-message stick' a listserve (email list) providing opportunities for members to post information to other members about current projects or events relating to Indigenous health, 'yarning places' which provide a space for discussion and debate on specific topics relating to Indigenous health and an A-Z index which includes non-standard, colloquial, and/or slang terms used in some Indigenous communities.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet is a useful resource for anyone currently working with Indigenous children and/or families who is interested in learning more about Indigenous health and strategies for improving Indigenous health outcomes.

January 2010

Every Child Matters Research and Practice Briefings (UK)

Making Research Count, an online social work and social care research dissemination network in the UK have produced 16 briefings known as: Every Child Matters Research and Practice Briefings: Children and Families.

Every Child Matters Research and Practice Briefings: Children and Families summarises research findings on topics such as ‘Assessing the needs of children and families’ and ‘Supporting families’ and include information on the implications of research for findings managers and front-line practitioners.

Every Child Matters Research and Practice Briefings are valuable resources for practitioners who are interested in concise summaries of research regarding vulnerable children and families.

December 2009

Prevention Action

Prevention Action is an independent online news publication that reports upon practice innovations within the child health and development field.

The publication has a holistic perspective of child health and development, reporting upon individual and family issues (e.g. school attendance, family function) and community level issues (e.g. poverty, housing).

The publication operates in a similar way to an online newspaper or magazine and includes news from across the world, including developed and developing nations.

Prevention Action is an excellent resource for practitioners and policy-makers who are interested in keeping up to date with the dynamic field of child health and development. It would be useful to any professional who wants to develop a global perspective on what works for children.

November 2009

Brighter Futures Practice Resources

Brighter Futures is a targeted support program funded by the NSW Government to prevent families from entering or escalating into the child protection system.

Brighter Futures practice resources cover a range of topics of relevance to professionals working directly with vulnerable children and families such as: domestic violence, parent mental health and father inclusive practice. These practice resources provide a summary of relevant research, and provide evidence-based strategies for working with families.

Brighter Futures resources are of potential relevance to a range of professionals working directly with vulnerable children and families who are looking for concise evidence based resources to guide their practice.