Background: In the UK and elsewhere, there is a growing policy and legislative imperative to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities are supported to develop relationships, including sexual ones. However, gay, lesbian and bisexual people with intellectual disabilities may have additional needs or face particular barriers in this area of…

The focus of the Local Authorities Research Consortium's (LARC's) first year was to identify the early impact of integrated children's services and the features that promote or hinder success in improving outcomes for children and young people. The research operated in varied localities within the 14 participating Local Authorities (LAs), with one…

Foster care has become the principal placement of choice for children and young people in public care in the United Kingdom (UK). This has been accompanied by a significant growth in its research scrutiny connected to a busy policy agenda, especially since 1997. With its increased usage, fostering has encountered both difficulties and…

Highlights problems experienced by young people who provide substantial care to other family members, including the shortage of consistent plans for multidisciplinary training or partnerships to support them. Reports findings from a gathering of young carers from across the United Kingdom, including policy issues and needs of carers identified in…

A study examined the role of coping style attributions and emotions in response to challenging behavior in predicting helping behaviors of 33 support staff of people with mental retardation. Coping styles of practical problem solving and wishful thinking and attributions of controllability and internality were significant predictors of effort in…

This paper discusses the issues surrounding the establishment of a system of professional development and training for early childhood workers and practitioners in the United Kingdom. The paper focuses on what needs to be done to accomplish an effective and efficient program of continuing professional development of practitioners. The paper first…

A central component of the Children Act 1989 in Great Britain is sponsored care, the purchase by local authorities of places for individual children in voluntary and private day care facilities. The book details a study examining how private and voluntary day care services such as childminders, preschools, and day nurseries are used by local…