Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines how Area Child Protection Committees currently operate and to reach some estimation of their effectiveness. It explains the operation of Area Child Protection Committees (ACPC) at more length than has been done hitherto. The book looks at how child protection policy is understood by those charged with implementing it through the Area Child Protection Committees. It also examines how those committees go about turning policy into practice in their constituent agencies. The book focuses on the members of an ACPC: who they are, how they are recruited, and how they go about representing their agencies on the committee. It aims to provide widen the scope of interagency collaboration through the introduction of ‘children’s services plans’.