ABSTRACT
THE new Children Act of 1948 provided a framework based on principles of administrative unity, individual need and the value of the natural family which were new in the legislation for deprived children. These principles themselves, and the insight of the new administrators, stimu lated a development in the service which led very quickly to change, to awareness of the best form of treatment for the child and later to an emphasis on the conditions leading to de privation, and the prevention of them.
