A requirement for high quality services for children in need of protection, for separated and looked after children, for children with disabilities and for children leaving care Renewed emphasis on the responsibilities of children, young people with families, and new criminal justice legislation with a central aim to prevent offending A 10 year programme to combat the growth of drugs and other harmful substances Central Government is setting clear standards and is holding local agencies to account for delivering them. As never before children's authorities and agencies need to test the effectiveness of their work and the return on their investments. Agencies must be kept up to date with research findings to improve their services to enable children to achieve and for children in need, children with health problems, for excluded children and for children in trouble. Children's agencies need strong alliances with independent research and evaluation centres to make sure their services meet modern quality specifications. The history of children's services for the past 20 years demands a programme of research improving children and young people's influence on services towards them and underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the rights of children.
Research needs to be child focused recognising the separate needs of children and their carers.
Services need to be redesigned to become child friendly and accessible. Without a major shift in emphasis agency services run the risk of becoming largely irrelevant to children's needs. There are huge variations in the shape and make up of families. Government's expectations about Supporting Families have been set out in the November 1998 Green Paper. Parents are under pressure for their children to achieve at school and elsewhere - and to act responsibly and become good citizens.