Leading children's services: some contemporary issues and challenges
| Published date | 20 November 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17466660200900017 |
| Pages | 49-57 |
| Date | 20 November 2009 |
| Author | Nick Frost |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care,Sociology |
*OURNALOF #HILDRENS 3ERVICESs 6OLUME )SSUE s.OVE MBER¥ 0IER0ROFE SSIONAL,TD 49
Abstract
This article explores some of the contemporary challenges facing leaders of children’s
services. Using the theoretical framework of the ‘incomplete leader’ developed by Ancona and
colleagues (2007), the article reflects on the many challenges facing children’s service leaders.
It argues that a distributed and connected model of leadership is the best available in the
current climate of change and challenge. This model contradicts the current one of embodied,
argues that the key leadership skills are about making sense of change, relating to people,
creating a vision and developing new ways of working. The article utilises Government policy
documents such as the Children’s Plan and Care Matters, workforce issues and strategic
planning to illustrate the nature of the leadership challenge. It concludes by suggesting a way
forward for children’s services leadership in integrated settings, in the current climate of audit
and managerialism.
Key words
children; children’s services; leadership; management; policy
Policy context
The policy context for the discussion is provided
by the Children’s Plan (DCSF, 2007) which places
leadership at the centre of the Government’s
stated aspirations of delivering ‘world class
outcomes’ for children and young people in
England. The plan summarises an attempt by
the New Labour government to fundamentally
restructure and reform the modern experience of
childhood (Parton, 2006).
The organisational framework that has the task
of delivering this ambitious plan for a new form of
childhood – the Children’s Trust1 arrangements
– has its roots in the England and Wales Children
Act, 2004. Drawing on the Laming Report (2003)
into the death of Victoria Climbié2, the Children
Act draws clear lines of accountability, creating a
Introduction
During 2008, the leadership of children’s services in
England became a topic of major public and political
concern (see the sustained campaign in the popular
newspaper The Sun around the death of ‘Baby
Peter’). The murder of Baby Peter, in a household
known to professionals, triggered a state-sponsored
review of policy (Laming, 2009) and a series of
policy reforms. Yet exactly how we conceptualise
and operationalise ‘leadership’ in these challenging
circumstances remains both under-developed and
under-researched (Purcell, 2009).
This article aims to contribute to the debate
around this crucial role in children’s services
through the utilisation of a model initially
developed in the private sector – an approach
known as ‘the incomplete leader’.
Leading children’s services:
some contemporary issues
and challenges
Nick Frost
Professor of Social Work (Children, Childhood and Families), Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
To continue reading
Request your trial