The increasing numbers of children and young people excluded from school have been seen largely as an education issue; often the focus has been on the decision to exclude children or reintegrate them back into school. An alternative perspective is to consider how children can be maintained in school through early intervention and how other agencies can support such an approach.Drawing on a national survey of social services departments, this publication examines what elected members and officers in the departments and local education authorities, school personnel, children and parents found of value in a social work approach