Children Bill Research Articles

Civil Law Aspects of the Mauritian Children's Bill of 2019

The Mauritian Children’s Bill of 2019 addresses many issues pertaining to child protection, such as best interest of a child, prohibition of discrimination of children, marriage of children, ill-treatment of children, surrogacy and sale of children and child prostitution. However, we may observe that the Bill regulates mainly the criminal law aspects as well as the administrative measures aiming at protecting children. The Bill does not contain the rules on Civil law aspects of the issues addressed in the Bill. In this article, we will analyse those Civil law aspects.

The Children's Bill of Mauritius: A critical assessment of key aspects

This article critically assesses the Children's Bill that has been presented as a law that will revolutionise the sphere of children's rights in Mauritius. It is set to replace the Child Protection Act which was way below the required international standard for children's rights. Essential aspects of the Bill are reviewed by using as barometers the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Some of the aspects explored are the principle of the best interests of the child, the protection of the child, the child as a juvenile offender and the Children's Court. The article also compares the Bill to the previous Child Protection Act to evaluate the efficacy of the changes brought about by the Bill.

The Effect of the Recent Inheritance Tax Reform on Bequest Behaviour in Japan

AbstractThis paper examines the behavioural response of households to wealth transfer taxation using household survey data from Japan, with particular attention being paid to the implications of different bequest motives that households may have. The data reveal that relatively few households plan to reallocate the newly taxable amount of wealth to their own consumption or inter vivos transfers in response to the recent lowering of the basic deduction of the inheritance tax. Our analysis shows that this partly reflects the fact that a relatively large share of households have no or a weak bequest motive in Japan. However, our estimation results also suggest that parents with an altruistic bequest motive are more likely to avoid an increase in their children's tax bill by reallocating the newly taxable amount of wealth to inter vivos transfers than those with no or a weak bequest motive. By contrast, parents with an exchange bequest motive are more likely to respond to the tax reform by reallocating the newly taxable amount of wealth to their own consumption, though they seem to exhibit a similar response to those with an altruistic bequest motive in some cases.

1. Restless Child

1. Restless Child Bill Broyles (bio) If you were the son of the "father of television," how would your life have turned out? Who would you have become? Would you be someone other than who you are today? Let's find out. Hello, Ronald Ives. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1909, into an eccentric family. And like many rebellious children, the more he tried to be different than his parents, the more he mirrored them. Frederic Eugene Ives Ives's grandfather, Frederic Eugene Ives (1856–1937), was a pioneer inventor of major importance and held more than 70 patents and received more than 20 medals of excellence awarded by scientific and technical [End Page 229] societies. He specialized in photography, optics, and printing. In 1878, his was the first use of color-sensitive photographic plates in commercial photography and the first practical process for making halftone plates. He worked successfully on transmission of photos by telegram, three-color halftones, panchromatic photo plates, photogravure and rotogravure printing, and infrared photography. He developed the first trichromatic camera, the stereoscopic photochromoscope, and the Kromolinskop, which was a forerunner of the Kodacolor motion picture process. He developed the modern binocular microscope, the trichromatic colorimeter, a tint photometer to standardize color charts, and various dye packs for film. He had a hand in modern motion picture film and he perfected the polychrome process of color photography. Frederic Ives descended from William Ives, a landed gentryman who came from England to America in 1635 and first settled in Boston and then New Haven, Connecticut, in 1638. The family tree included Joseph Christmas Ives (explorer, 1829–1868), James Merritt Ives (artist of Currier and Ives, 1824–1895), and Charles Ives (musician, 1874–1954), though we have no information that Ronald's immediate family knew these distant relatives. Frederic's father, Hubert Leverit Ives (1833–1868), was a farmer in Litchfield, Connecticut, and he married Ellen A. Beach in 1855. Ellen's family was also from England, but both were originally Norman French. Frederic, the eldest child, had two sisters and three brothers, one who died in infancy. At age 13 he was apprenticed to a newspaper printer, at 19 he was director of Cornell University's first photographic laboratory, and at 25 he ran his own business in Philadelphia. He invented and made halftone printing plates. Later he formed the Ives Kromskop Company that helped launch color photography.5 Frederic was stern and hardworking. His great-granddaughter, Jacqueline Beyer Webster, recounts family lore about Frederic. "He had a job as clerk in a country store which only allowed for two hours sleep a night. This was considered normal working conditions at the time, but he couldn't take it. The other tale about him is that he was considered slow, as he didn't talk until he was five or six. When his first words were 'Be so kind as to pass the butter,' nobody batted an eyelash or commented on it—they passed the butter. There is conjecture that someone sneered at his first babbling, so he practiced by himself 'til he was sure he would not be mocked."6 In Frederic's version, one of his earliest memories was "of my chagrin at being made sport of by a clownish farmer.... I did not commence to talk as soon as children do when there are other children [End Page 230] in the family, but [I] astonished my parents one day by suddenly beginning to talk in long sentences 'like a grown-up.' "7 His childhood was unusual by modern American standards, but for his time it was not atypical: a young boy put to work as an apprentice or paid employee as soon as he is able—sometimes as early as age 9 or 10—schooled only occasionally, and expected to become independent in his early teens, with little family support or affection. The Ives family valued hard work, independence, and rigid morality, while dismissing affection, emotions, play, or luxury, a pattern we later see in Frederic's son Herbert and grandson Ronald. First Frederic worked for his father on the family farm and, when Frederic was 10, his father became a country...

La identiddad de la infancia desde el siglo XX hasta hoy. Ideología, holocausto Judío (Shoá) y nuevos derechos

Pedagogical speculation in the twentieth century appears to have identified infancy as a stage of life having importance in its own right, and not as an imitation of adult life. Similarly, it seemed that the legal recognition of infancy as a holder of rights having priority over other social groups — the outcome of a protracted and complex historical process in western society — was well under way at the start of the century. With the rise to power of fascism, on the other hand, this same process was stalled and sent into reverse. Infancy was deprived of its basic rights, and moreover, subjected to ideological manipulation in the context of a culture of hatred and death that resulted in the lives of children and adolescents being sacrificed in favour of the State. Following the historical crimes of the Shoah and the horrors of the Holocaust, attempts were made to redeem infancy through a fruitful circularity between pedagogy and a children's bill of rights. This bodes well for the design of educational pathways able to foster respect, development and well-being for children in the 21st century; by the same token, however, one cannot ignore the reappearance of problems in our current times, regarding new forms of disavowal and disappearance of infancy, which pedagogy is duty bound to denounce and seek to eliminate.

The Pediatric Bill of Rights

The Pediatric Bill of Rights

String and Music Education Associations on Long Island, New York, 1950–1960

Introduction String education was a neglected area of music education in the mid-twentieth century. This resulted in the founding of many important organizations to promote string education. One of the most influential, the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), developed at a Music Educators National Conference (MENC) annual meeting in 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio. (1) In 1948, at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) conference, over a hundred string teachers were present for ASTA's formal inauguration. (2) Traugott Rohner, founder of The Instrumentalist magazine, voiced his concern about the need for an orchestra organization in the Music Educators Journal, as he believed school orchestra directors were ignored. (3) In 1959, eighty-eight school directors of the 133 ASTA chartered members united to develop the National School Orchestra Association (NSOA). ASTA and NSOA operated independently but often held spring conferences in conjunction with MENC. Also in 1959, the American Federation of Musicians sponsored the first International String Congress in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to encourage the professional lives of young musicians in the United States and Canada. (4) These organizations would soon be of major importance to string education and help solidify string teaching in America. in the 1950s Thousands of young service men, recently returned from World War II, were ready to start new lives with new homes and jobs in the 1950s. American industry began to expand, jobs were created, and the baby boom was underway. In 1952, the World War II general Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president. President Eisenhower stated that America is today the strongest, most influential, and most productive nation in the world. (5) During Eisenhower's administration (1952-60), the nation experienced multiple changes. Segregation ended (1954), the highway interstate system was created (1956), and grew from a nation of forty-eight states to fifty (1959). In the music world, rock and roll was in its infancy: the voices of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Johnny Cash were still heard on the radio. (6) In the music education field, several important events occurred during this decade. MENC established the Child's Bill of Rights in Music in 1950, to ensure that every child had the right to learn music. In 1953, the Journal of Research in Music Education published its first volume, and the International Society for Music Education had its first postwar meeting in Brussels, Belgium. MENC celebrated its fiftieth anniversary at their annual conference in 1957 and adopted the Golden Anniversary Resolution, which was intended to support music education in a postwar world and look toward the future. These events demonstrated the importance of music education in American lives. The future of American string education began to strengthen during the 1950s. The formation of ASTA strengthened string teachers' knowledge through workshops and annual conferences that provided networking opportunities. The ability to share knowledge about string education in the Music Educators Journal and the establishment of a national orchestra association could not have occurred at a better time. The formation of national string organizations also led to the formation of regional, state, and local groups that supported string education. Research Purpose and Questions The purpose of this study is to examine the history of music and string education associations on Long Island, New York, from 1950 to 1960. Through the use of artifacts, websites, and interviews with two former Long Island string educators, answers were sought for the following research questions: What organizations existed to support string education during the 1950s, and how did the economy on Long Island in that decade affect string education? This study explores the evolution and progress of five associations in New York State and on Long Island and how each was affected by the population boom of the postwar suburban era. …

‘Coalition’1 - what does it mean for schools?

Summary Since the formation of a coalition government in May 2010, there have been substantial changes in government policies relating to the education system in England and Wales. The previous Labour administration strengthened education in food and nutrition and promoted healthy eating in schools. The National Curriculum relating to food technology states what pupils should learn, making reference to practical cooking skills, food safety and hygiene and nutrition and healthy eating. This remains a statutory requirement. The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), announced in October 2010, meant that substantial financial cuts would be made across government, including the Department for Education. A huge swathe of quangos has already been cut, including the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) and the National Healthy Schools Programme (NHSP). The School Food Trust (SFT) has faced budget cuts, and further massive savings will come from the scrapping of Building Schools for the Future (BSF). The White Paper and Education and Children's Bill will provide greater freedom for schools and academies to determine their own curriculum, length of the school day and lesson times. David Cameron's vision of a ‘Big Society’ will require greater collaboration from a wide range of organisations, including industry and charitable organisations to support high quality education in food and nutrition in schools. Individual Headteachers will be freed to make decisions at a local level. This will leave individual schools with greater decision making and funding responsibility.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND PROSTITUTION: BAND OF BROTHERS

On 14 December 2000 South Africa signed the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (‘the Palermo Protocol’), and on 20 February 2004 ratified it. In so doing, South Africa committed itself to criminalising trafficking and developing legislation to combat it. On 3 October 2007 Essop Pahad, speaking at the Global Initiative to Counter Human Trafficking International Forum, said the National Prosecuting Authority had been tasked with coordinating this process and had formed an inter-sectoral task team to oversee the development of legislation. He further stated that provisions on trafficking had already been included in the Children's Bill and that the revised Sexual Offences Act would have a chapter dealing specifically with trafficking for sexual purposes. On 16 December 2007 the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007 came into effect. It contains a chapter specifically dealing with trafficking as well as a section specifically addressing the issue of trafficking for sexual purposes. Although these provisions are only temporary, as they are not in full compliance with the Palermo Protocol, the South African government made an attempt to deal with the problem of trafficking, which up to that point had not been regulated by adequate legislation. In March 2009 Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, then Minister in the Presidency, stated that ‘the process of translating South Africa's international commitments into national legislation is at an advance (sic) stage’. In 2008 government considered the idea of legalising prostitution for the duration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. If prostitution were legalised, either for the duration of the World Cup or at any time thereafter, it would contradict the provisions of Part 6 of Act 32 of 2007 and nullify the work that has been done in an attempt to curb this crime of trafficking.

Cutting Tradition: the Political Regulation of Traditional Circumcision Rites in South Africa's Liberal Democratic Order

The South African Xhosa ethnic group, the majority of whom live in the country's Eastern Cape province, are one of several ethnic groups in southern Africa that practise the ritual of circumcision as part of a rite admitting boys to manhood. Recent years have seen a rise in casualties among those participating in traditional circumcision rites. Since 1995 more than 6,000 boys have been admitted to Eastern Cape hospitals, more than 300 have died and 76 have had their genitalia amputated due to botched circumcisions. The state has responded by putting in place a variety of mechanisms to regulate the practice, most recently in the form of the 2005 Children's Bill which gives male children the right to refuse circumcision and makes those who circumcise a child against his will guilty of an offence punishable by imprisonment. Attempts by the state to regulate traditional practices (of which circumcision is just one and virginity testing is another) have been met with outrage and resistance in some quarters. Rituals are commonly identified as mechanisms contributing to social order in all societies, maintaining the organisation of groups into hierarchies, specifying the performance of roles linked to factors such as age and gender, renewing group unity and a means for the transmission of values across generations. But in a society so deeply penetrated by colonialism, apartheid and industrialisation, as South Africa is, what role do these rites play in the contemporary context? In a liberal democratic constitutional state, social order is conceived as a contract between the individual and the state in which the state upholds the rights of individual citizens. The state, in this conception of order, is the sole source of social authority. Final recourse is to the impersonal mechanism of the constitution as interpreted by the courts. Traditional rituals seem to suggest alternative loci of authority and alternative conceptions of the production and maintenance of social order. As a result, they can be seen as threatening to the liberal democratic version of order. This article examines how these conflicting conceptions of authority and order have played themselves out with regard to traditional circumcision in South Africa.

Gender, policy and family in contemporary Botswana

abstract The Children's Bill of Botswana, currently in draft form, is inching closer to its enactment. The newspaper-based discussion of the Bill has mainly revolved around the child's right to know their biological parents. On the one hand, the development of the Bill has been welcomed by disgruntled, unmarried fathers and to a certain degree by women's activist organisations. On the other hand, the ‘right to know’ is criticised by traditional leaders who see it as contradicting customary norms surrounding the legitimisation of families. Some women regard the ‘right to know’ as ‘opening up a can of worms’—as having the potential to undermine their integrity as mothers. A Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA Botswana) study of maintenance laws and practices (1992) points to the difficulties faced by women to obtain financial support for their children from their biological fathers. The seemingly failure of fathers it play their parental roles is evidenced by the ever-increasing number of unresolved maintenance cases. A study by cultural anthropologist Townsend (1997) on male life courses reveals the reality of fathering over generations, which is not captured in legislative and policy contexts. The findings of the WLSA and Townsend and the current media debates expose the complexity of parenting within the contexts of customary and common laws which regard families as only ‘legitimate’ within the context of marriage. Using the current media-based debate on children's rights as a focal point, this briefing touches on contestations over parenthood, while highlighting the challenge of conceptualising family within a dynamic socio-cultural and policy landscape in Botswana.

No Relief Yet From Medicare Physician Pay Cuts

No Relief Yet From Medicare Physician Pay Cuts

Heroes in Action: Child Advocates in South Africa

Dikwankwetla - Children in Action is the name of an advocacy group of children who participated in the deliberations around the new Children's Bill in South Africa. Their participation in a legislative process broadens the scope of venues for children's participation, and challenges the discourse about child participation at a new level. It also raises important conceptual questions about the extent to which children can participate in legislative processes. This paper presents the efforts of Dikwankwetla as a case study, reflecting on its practice and challenges. It interrogates children's agency in this process, and argues that childhood must be re-conceptualized to recognize that children are political actors in their environments. Looking at the concepts of power and representation, it recognizes the need for a shift in the adult-child relationship, from one based on control to one based on rights and responsibilities. More importantly, it reflects on the implications of facilitating children's participation in the context of a developing country, where socio-economic and cultural conditions raise different challenges from those in the developed world.

Enrolling Adolescents in Research on HIV: Young Women Must Be Included

As researchers managing an HIV prevention microbicide trial, which takes place across three provinces, we would like to commend Singh et al. for their informative article on the need to include adolescent women in HIV prevention trials [1]. This commendation is based on our clinical trial experience where we have enrolled 16- and 17-year-old women and are actively continuing with their follow-up. In our study, we include these young women, who are often those at highest risk for HIV infection, for several reasons. Most notable among these are: (1) All participants in HIV prevention trials (regardless of the arm to which they are randomised) have a reduced risk of HIV infection, due to the intervention of preventive counselling and education that is ethically required for participants in such trials. In addition, access to sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnosis and treatment and referrals for partner treatment while in the clinical trial further serves to reduce risk factors for HIV infection and STI re-infection. (2) These young women are sexually active and at risk, and form part of the end-user constituency for a proven microbicide. This sexual activity is evidenced by statistics from the Human Sciences Research Council for 2005 for South Africa, which show that the prevalence of HIV in the 15- to 34-year-old group is 20%. Furthermore, the Children's Bill passed in June 2005 [2] says that young women can have access to contraception from the age of 12 years without parental consent. It is thus ethically imperative that young women should be included in the testing of such products. (3) Including those currently at greatest risk for infection ensures that the study will be able to detect the efficacy of the intervention. It is clear that both the participants and the research question benefit from the inclusion of younger women in communities where HIV risk is high and education, counselling, and new prevention technologies are needed. Younger women are most at risk when it comes to sexual transmission of HIV [3]. Clinical HIV prevention trials provide an environment where confidentiality can be maintained and where young women can be educated on methods to protect themselves in a confidential and consistent manner through trial participation. Thus, the inclusion of young women in such trials is an opportunity to empower the younger generation of young women across communities. To deny that these young women are sexually active would be to turn a blind eye to an important epicentre of the epidemic, and counterproductive to the HIV prevention research agenda. The age of consent for adolescent participation in clinical trials without obtaining legal guardian/parental support is a major factor that complicates their involvement in HIV prevention trials and other health-care research. The requirement for parental consent that often accompanies the ethical approval process of most studies is at times an insurmountable barrier and distances the young women that require this type of intervention from securing access to these potential prevention options. As Singh et al. point out, there are many salient reasons why adolescents can and should be considered capable of giving informed consent without parental assent or approval. Researchers must continue to work in collaboration with local and scientific communities, ethics committees, and policy makers to ensure that the need for the participation of young women in HIV prevention trials is understood. It would seem then that both researchers and ethicists should work with actual examples of ethical research activities that include adolescents without parental involvement, in order to develop guidelines for adolescent research in the field of HIV that are both protective and practical. 3

Crianças órfãs e vulneráveis pelo HIV no Brasil: onde estamos e para onde vamos?

This study aimed at identifying human rights' status and situation, as expressed in the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, of children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS, non-orphans and orphans affected by AIDS, based on local and international literature review. The main study findings did not allow to accurately estimating those children and adolescents living with HIV and non-orphans affected by HIV/AIDS but data was available on those living with AIDS and orphans. The limitations and possibilities of these estimates obtained from surveillance systems, mathematical models and surveys are discussed. Though studies in literature are still quite scarce, there is indication of compromise of several rights such as health, education, housing, nutrition, nondiscrimination, and physical and mental integrity. Brazil still needs to advance to meet further needs of those orphaned and vulnerable children. Its response so far has been limited to providing health care to those children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS, preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission and financing the implementation and maintenance of support homes (shelters according to Child and Adolescent Bill of Rights) for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, either orphans or not. These actions are not enough to ensure a supportive environment for children and adolescents orphaned, infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. It is proposed ways for Brazil to develop and improve databases to respond to these challenges.

Virginity testing in South Africa: Re‐traditioning the postcolony

Umhlanga is a ceremony celebrating virginity. In South Africa, it is practiced, among others, by the Zulu ethnic group who live mainly in the province of KwaZulu Natal. After falling into relative disuse in the Zulu community, the practice of virginity testing made a comeback some 10 years ago at around the time of the country's first democratic election and coinciding with the period when the HIV pandemic began to take hold. In July 2005 the South African Parliament passed a new Children's Bill which will prohibit virginity testing of children. The Bill has been met with outrage and public protest on the part of Zulu citizens. Traditional circumcision rites are also addressed in the new bill but are not banned. Instead, male children are given the right to refuse to participate in traditional initiation ceremonies which include circumcision. This paper asks why the practice of virginity testing is regarded as so troubling to the new democratic order that the state has chosen to take the heavy‐handed route of banning it. The paper further asks why the state's approach to traditional male circumcision has been so different to its approach to virginity testing. Finally, the paper asks what these two challenging cases in the country's new democracy tell us about the nature of liberal democratic citizenship in South Africa 10 years after apartheid's formal demise. Résumé L'umhlanga est une cérémonie qui glorifie la virginité. En Afrique du Sud, elle est pratiquée entre autres par les zoulous, groupe ethnique présent principalement dans la province du Kwazulu Natal. Après un abandon relatif par la communauté zouloue, la pratique du test de virginité a fait un come back il y a environ une dizaine d'années, à peu près au moment des premières élections démocratiques du pays et de l'apparition de l'épidémie de VIH/sida. En juillet 2005, le parlement sud africain a adopté une nouvelle loi de protection des enfants qui interdit les test de virginité. Cette loi s'est heurtée à l'indignation et aux protestations publiques de citoyens zoulous. Les rites traditionnels de la circoncision sont également abordés par la nouvelle loi sans toutefois être interdits. En revanche, les enfants de sexe masculin ont le droit de refuser de participer à des cérémonies rituelles d'initiation, parmi lesquelles la circoncision. Cet article s'interroge sur les raisons pour lesquelles le test de virginité est considéré comme troublant par le nouvel ordre démocratique, au point que l'état a choisi la méthode forte de son interdiction. Il va jusqu'à demander pourquoi l'approche de la circoncision masculine traditionnelle par l'état est si différente de celle du test de virginité. Enfin, l'article s'interroge sur ce que ces deux enjeux dans la nouvelle démocratie de ce pays nous disent sur la nature de la citoyenneté démocratique et libérale, dix ans après la disparition officielle de l'apartheid. Resumen Umhlanga es una ceremonia en la que se celebra la virginidad. En Sudáfrica es practicada entre otros por el grupo étnico Zulú que vive principalmente en la provincia de KwaZulu Natal. Después de caer en desuso en la comunidad Zulú, la práctica de la prueba de la virginidad volvió a aparecer hace unos diez años en el momento en que el país celebraba sus primeras elecciones democráticas y coincidió con el periodo en que la pandemia de VIH/sida empezó a causar estragos. En julio de 2005, el parlamento sudafricano aprobó una nueva propuesta de ley del menor que prohibe hacer la prueba de la virginidad a menores. Esta nueva ley ha provocado indignación y protestas en gran parte de los ciudadanos zulúes. Los ritos tradicionales de circuncisión también se abordan en la nueva ley pero no están prohibidos. En lugar de eso se concede a los niños el derecho a negarse a participar en las ceremonias tradicionales de iniciación que incluyen la circuncisión. En este ensayo se plantea la pregunta de por qué el nuevo orden democrático considera tan problemática la práctica de las pruebas de virginidad para que el Estado haya optado por la estricta vía de la prohibición. Asimismo se plantea por qué la postura del Estado con respecto a la circuncisión masculina tradicional ha sido tan diferente a su planteamiento sobre las pruebas de la virginidad. Para terminar, en este documento se examina qué significado tienen estos dos problemáticos casos en la nueva democracia del país para la naturaleza de la ciudadanía democrática y liberal en Sudáfrica, diez años después de la desaparición del apartheid.

A battle won? The prohibition of virginity testing in the Children's Bill

abstract This focus examines the recent—and ongoing—debate over the banning of virginity testing in the Children's Bill (recently approved by South Africa's National Assembly although awaiting final ratification). It surveys the development of a decade-long debate over the legitimacy of the practice, and shows how the legislation in question has sought to address key concerns of activists and civil society groups opposed to virginity testing. While the apparent focus on children's rights in this most recent incarnation of the conflict might suggest that we have shifted away from a focus on gender and culture, the focus argues that this is not the case. These debates continue to be inflected by ‘culture’, since they rest on competing understandings of the nature of ‘childhood’ and of the relative autonomy of the girl-child—both of which tend to be defended as ‘culturally distinct’.

Multi-agency working in services for disabled children: what impact does it have on professionals?

Whilst agencies in many sectors have been encouraged to work together to better meet the needs of service users, multi-agency working is now a central feature of government policy. In relation to children's services, the National Service Framework, the English green paper, 'Every Child Matters' (DfES, 2003) and the Children Bill (DfES 2004) give a high priority to an integrated approach to service provision. This paper focuses on multi-agency working for disabled children with complex health-care needs, a group of children who, perhaps even more than most, require the many professionals who support them and their families, to work more closely together. Drawing on the findings from a 3-year qualitative research study, this paper examines the impact of working in a multi-agency service on professionals. Interviews with 115 professionals concluded that staff were overwhelmingly positive about working as part of a multi-agency service. They reported improvements to their working lives in areas such as professional development, communication, collaboration with colleagues, and relationships with families with disabled children. However, whilst professionals felt that they were able to offer families a more efficient service, there was concern that the overall impact of multi-agency working on disabled children and their families would be limited.

Building Your Instrumental Music Program in an Urban School

emonstrating a commitment to quality music education for all children, MENC: National Association for Education introduced The Child's Bill of in Music in 1950. A revision adopted in 1991 stated that quality and quantity of children's music instruction must not depend upon their geographical location, social status, racial or ethnic status, urban/suburban/rural residence, or parental or community wealth.' Instrumental music has consistently been an integral component of comprehensive music instruction, and The Child's Bill of Rights accounted for this by stating that every child must receive extensive opportunities to ... play at least one instrument.2 Shortly after the revised version of The Child's Bill of Rights was published in 1992, the National Standards for Arts Education were introduced and widely accepted. successful implementation of the K-12 music components of these Standards is heavily predicated on a number of factors, including the availability of sufficient instruction time and space, the appropriation of substantive funding, and the facilitation of qualified music teachers, including those for instrumental music.3 Sadly, these requisite conditions are presently inadequate in most urban schools. With some extra

Reviewing child deaths?learning from the American experience

Current systems for investigating child deaths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have come under intense scrutiny in recent years and questions have been raised about the accuracy of child death investigations and resulting statistics. Research has highlighted the ways in which multidisciplinary input can contribute to investigative and review processes, a perspective which is further supported by recent UK policy developments. The experience of creating multidisciplinary child death review teams (CDRTs) in America highlights the potential benefits the introduction of a similar system might have. These benefits include improved multi-agency working and communication, more effective identification of suspicious cases, a decrease in inadequate death certification and a broader and more in-depth understanding of the causes of child deaths through the systematic collection and analysis of data. While a lack of funding, regional coordination and evaluation limit the impact of American CDRTs, the positive aspects of this process make it worthwhile, and timely, to consider how such a model might fit within our own context. Current policy developments such as the Home Office review of coroner services, the Children Bill and related Department for Education and Skills (DfES) work on developing screening groups demonstrate that strides have been made in respect of introducing a multidisciplinary process. Similarly, the development of local protocols for the investigation and[sol ]or review of child deaths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland highlights an increased focus on multidisciplinary processes. However, key issues from the American experience, such as the remit of CDRTs[sol ]screening panels, the need for national coordination and the importance of rigorous evaluation, can inform the development of a similar process in the UK.