ABSTRACT
In this book we have undertaken three tasks essential for systemic change. First, we have provided an evidence-based critique of contemporary Anglophone child protection systems and their outcomes in relation to service users and stakeholders. We then outlined a vision for a better approach to responding to the complex problems of child abuse and neglect, including practice principles, an ethical and values-based framework, along with altered structural and practice arrangements. In doing this we have used the concept of child and family well-being to describe a reformed system that rebalances the social care and social control functions, and is reoriented toward ethical relationships as a key mechanism for influencing families to change and develop. Finally, we described how to manage and undertake these changes, mindful of the enormity of the change management processes required and the potential effects on child protection systems that have, in most cases, been subject to rapid and ongoing modifications to their functions and operations for many years.
