Book Cover; Title; Contents; Notes on authors; Foreword; Introduction; From charity to social work: a history; On the statute book: the law and social services; The nuts and bolts of care: politics and organisation; For the child's sake: services for children; Does the community care?: social services today; Whose service is it, anyway?: involving service users; Home from home?: residential care; Something special: specialist services; More than a piece of paper: social work training; The manager's tale: management of social services; Acts of charity: the role of the voluntary sector