briefing paper

The term ‘co-production’ is increasingly being applied to new types of public service delivery in the UK, including new approaches to adult social care. This briefing explains how staff should be encouraged to access co-productive initiatives, recognising and supporting diversity among the people who use services. And the importance of creating new structures, regulatory and commissioning practices and financial streams is necessary to embed co-production as a long-term rather than ad hoc solution.

The topic of this briefing is the prevention of pregnancy among a specific group: looked after children and young people, who usually live in foster homes, but may also be in residential placements or with family members. Research and policy literature currently focuses on the provision of appropriate and adequate sex and relationship education in conjunction with accessible contraceptive services as the means of reducing teenage pregnancy.

Report of a study which sought to establish whether it is meaningful to think about sibling incest as a discrete type of adolescent sexual abuse and whether a boy who has abused his younger sibling might then also be considered a risk to the wider community and vice versa.

Paper intended to provoke discussion on whether and how the recurring barriers to, and enablers of, effective delivery of health improvement pinpointed through evaluations of national initiatives in Scotland over recent years can be appropriately addressed.

This briefing uses data from the Police National Computer and the National Drug Treatment Monitoring Database to look for associations between offending behaviour and treatment for substance misuse.

Report presenting the results of an audit of criminal justice social work provision in Scotland carried out to gain a national picture of the main areas of structured activity in community based programme and service development in Scotland.

Report of an evaluation of Constructs PSSO which is a groupwork programme for male offenders aged 18 and over. The programme aims to achieve a measurable reduction in re-offending for participants who finish the programme by helping them become better problem solvers and more able to put into practice pro-social solutions to problems.

In June 1998 the Government published “Speaking up for Justice”, a report of an Interdepartmental Working Group on the treatment of Vulnerable or Intimidated Witnesses in the Criminal Justice System. It proposed a coherent and integrated scheme to provide appropriate support and assistance for vulnerable or intimidated witnesses. This is a summary report of the key recommendations, legislation and implementation.

This report summarises the findings of the Final Evaluation of the Working for Families Fund (WFF). WFF, which operated from 2004-08, invested in initiatives to remove childcare barriers and improve the employability of disadvantaged parents who have barriers to participating in the labour market, specifically to help them move towards, into, or continue in employment, education or training. The programme was administered by 20 local authorities (which covered 79% of Scotland’s population), operating through around 226 locally based public, private and third-sector projects.

Briefing paper presenting the results of secondary data analysis of a series of large British birth cohort studies to illustrate time trends in the emotional and behavioural problems of young people.