This new textbook provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to the main context in which social work is practiced - Local Authority Social Services. It is based on the realities of work in a modern social services authority and is written by an author team which combines teaching and writing expertise with the experience of working in the social services. The book covers all the local authority personal social services and the frameworks within which they operate. It addresses the major changes that have taken place in the social services in recent years and looks forward to prospects for personal social services in the future.