Rosemary Littlechild

In the context of the Care Act 2014, this third edition of the leading textbook on personalisation considers key policy changes since 2009 and new research into the extension and outcomes of personal budgets. Direct payments and personal budgets have developed rapidly, transforming the whole of adult social care. In future, all care will be delivered via a personal budget, with direct payments as the default rather than the exception. As the concepts have spread from adult social care to other sectors, the changes have been controversial and difficult to implement. Front-line practitioners and people using services have struggled to make sense of these ways of working in a challenging financial and policy context. This accessible textbook is essential reading for students, practitioners and policy makers in social work and community care services.

In the context of the Care Act 2014, this third edition of the leading textbook on personalisation considers key policy changes since 2009 and new research into the extension and outcomes of personal budgets. Direct payments and personal budgets have developed rapidly, transforming the whole of adult social care. In future, all care will be delivered via a personal budget, with direct payments as the default rather than the exception. As the concepts have spread from adult social care to other sectors, the changes have been controversial and difficult to implement. Front-line practitioners and people using services have struggled to make sense of these ways of working in a challenging financial and policy context. This accessible textbook is essential reading for students, practitioners and policy makers in social work and community care services.

Direct payments and personal budgets are two of the most exciting and important developments in adult social care since the Second World War. From very small-scale origins, both have grown rapidly and are now set to transform the whole of adult social care. In future, the government has pledged that everyone will receive a personal budget, and managers, practitioners and students alike will need to be fully conversant with the implications of this. Against this background, this is the first UK introductory textbook on direct payments and personal budgets, summarising the current evidence and implications for policy and practice. Designed for front-line practitioners and for student social workers, the book places these policies in context, explores their origins and impacts, and sets out the challenges and opportunities for practice. Written by leading national experts in the personalisation agenda, the book is essential reading for everyone involved in social care. This is a revised and updated second edition of the ground-breaking "Social work and direct payments" (The Policy Press, 2000).

Drawing on key research, government policies and real-life case studies, the book assists health and social care professionals to work more effectively together in order to improve services for users and carers. The health and social care divide: explains why partnerships are important and what helps/hinders partnership working; reviews the legal and policy framework, providing a chronological overview and placing current initiatives in their historical and social policy context; summarises existing research findings with regard to key health and social care policy debates; uses case studies to explore the implications of this research for health and social care practitioners; provides good practice guidance for both students and front-line practitioners.

The 1996 Community Care (Direct Payments) Act came into force in 1 April 1997, empowering social services departments to make cash payments to some service users in lieu of direct service provision. Social work and direct payments guides readers through the issues at stake in this fundamental area of practice. The book summarises and builds on current knowledge and research about direct payments in the UK and considers developments in other European countries. It identifies good practice in the area and explores the implications of direct payments, both for service users and for social work staff.