Child development teams: are they fulfilling their purpose?

Child development teams (CDTs) have been in existence for a quarter of a century, yet little is known of how they function or what they do. This paper originated in a national seminar on how CDTs function and what they seek to achieve. It discusses the wide range of practice in CDTs across Britain and the apparent deficiencies in service provision for certain types of disability. Since each child has a unique set of needs, the composition of the team must be flexible and responsive to the changing circumstances of each child. The need for a philosophical shift to take account of changing parental expectations is stressed. There is a need for further research on a number of topics, including: the patterns of service provision and the differences between districts; the implementation of what is already known about standards of good practice; the possible role of a charter for disabled children and their families; the training needs of future CDT professionals.