• 2020 Children and Young People's Workforce Strategy
• Delivering services
• Working with mothers, fathers, carers and families
• Integrated working
• Participation of children and young people
• Managers and leaders
• Finance and funding
• The third sector
• Improving quality
• Strategy and governance

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Strategy and working practice

• 2020 Children and Young People's Workforce Strategy

• Delivering services

  • Workforce reform
  • Children's services directory
  • The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's services
  • Co-located Services Toolkit

• Working with mothers, fathers, carers and families

  • National Academy for Parenting Practitioners
  • Health-led parenting support
  • Family Pathfinders
  • Parent Know How
  • Parenting Implementation Project (PIP)
  • Step in to Learning
  • How Local Authorities can support parents
  • Child poverty

• Integrated working

  • Integrated working: Training
  • Integrated working: Exemplars
  • Integrated working for Local Authorities
  • Setting up multi-agency services
  • Common Assessment Framework
  • Integrated Qualifications Framework (IQF)
  • Common Core of Skills and Knowledge
  • ContactPoint
  • Information sharing

• Participation of children and young people

  • Participation FAQs

• Managers and leaders

  • Lead professional
  • Championing Children - Skills and knowledge for managers of integrated services
  • Joint planning and commissioning

• Finance and funding

  • Information for local authorities

• The third sector

  • Background on the third sector
  • Children, Young People and Families Grant Programme
  • The national and local compacts
  • The Third Sector Group

• Improving quality

  • Standards
  • Qualifications & training
  • Guidance
  • Targets
  • Better regulation

• Strategy and governance

  • Education and Inspections Act 2006
  • Every Child Matters
  • The New Local Performance Framework
  • Directors and lead members of children's services
  • United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
  • Improvement support for Children's Trusts

Those who work in children's services should be valued as skilled professionals and encouraged to be ambitious for every child and young person. Working practices should be integrated and show a commitment to partnership. These practices should be supported by a management structure that encourages inter-agency cooperation, which is particularly useful for children and young people who are accessing multiple services.

The Government recognises that the parents, carers and families of children and young people have the most direct influence on their lives. In partnership with LAs, the Government is working to make sure that parents and families have access to the support that they need, when they need it. LAs have a duty to provide information, advice and assistance to parents and prospective parents of children and young people up to age 20.

The commitment to collaboration which underpins the Every Child Matters agenda is based on statutory duties within the Children Act 2004 and is realised through Children's Trusts, which have been established in each local area. These are local partnerships that bring together all organisations required to provide services for children, young people and families. LAs lead Children's Trusts, working closely with the other local agencies that have a legal duty to be part of the Trust, including strategic health authorities, police authorities and Connexions partnerships. We recommend that Children's Trusts also include other important local partners like schools, colleges and third sector organisations.

The Children's Plan sets out the Government's intention to further strengthen Children's Trusts so that by 2010 there are in place consistent high quality arrangements to identify and help all children with additional needs. The Government is also taking forward further legislation to:

• extend the number of Children's Trust partners
• make the Children's Trust Board a statutory body, so that it can have specific functions
• give the Board legal responsibility for producing and securing delivery of the Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP).

The Government strongly supports the effective involvement of children, young people and their families or carers in the development and running of Children's Trusts. Resources are available to ensure that this commitment translates into practice that is meaningful for children and young people and which becomes embedded within organisational ethos.