Service planners, practitioners and researchers in the thick of developments in social policy sometimes find it difficult to draw breath for long enough to take stock of whether genuine progress is being made. This special issue of the Journal of Children's Services seeks to do that regarding work with children and their families to reduce the risks of crime and antisocial behaviour. Its point of reference is a report called Support from the Start that resulted from a series of seminars at the Royal Society in London and was published by the (then) Department of Education and Skills.