0-19: Book Review

What Works in Strategic Partnerships for
Children?

Janie Percy-Smith

Published by Barnardo’s

£12.95, ISBN: 1 904659 10 1

Star Rating: 3/5

Like Delia’s cookery books, the Barnardo’s What Works series
aims to present recipes for success. This, the eighth in the
series, offers an appraisal of evidence and research about why and
how strategic partnerships are formed, what they do, and how their
impact can be sustained.

The book supports the idea that change across children’s
services will be delivered by partnerships. Whether you are in
education, health, social services or the voluntary sector there is
learning in this for you.

It is full of analysis and references from research, policy
papers and other books, all of which make it exceptional in terms
of depth but a touch academic.

If you are new to strategic partnerships, involved in one that
is underachieving, or just want to learn more about them you could
do a lot worse than spending an afternoon picking through this
book.

Review by a children’s fund manager.