Child Protection, Public Services and the Chimera of Market Force Efficiency

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Abstract
The different agencies and professions that contribute towards child protection services have all recently had to begin to take account of the impact of market forces on their activities, yet detailed consideration of the consequences of this are slow to emerge. This article begins to consider these changes for child protection services. Having briefly described the child protection systems in England and Wales, it looks at the theoretical underpinning to the market forces approach which has become a significant ideological position in respect of public services in the UK and increasingly throughout the world. The article then considers the impact of a market forces approach on the organization of child protection services in relation to coordination versus fragmentation, profit versus professionalism, planning versus short‐termism, and cooperation versus competition. It concludes that the argument that a market forces approach to child protection will lead to greater efficiency in relation to protecting children is a chimera. The article is thus of relevance for the different professions who contribute to child protection services in all countries where a market approach to public welfare is being suggested or implemented.

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