I intend to enquire into the complex needs of looked after children and how services can meet these needs. I consider recent research and the evidence base for mental health and wellbeing interventions. I examine Tarren-Sweeney's (2014) proposed best practice principles for service design, which are a good fit with a systemic perspective. I then look at how systemic principles can work alongside these recommendations, describing a looked after children's emotional wellbeing and mental health service working with the entire looked after population in one inner-city local authority in England. This work is about supporting adult networks who care for children rather than direct work with children themselves. I show how this service fits within the domain of production, and speaks to the domains of explanation and aesthetics, in which we address social constructionist positioning and the activities of meaning-making, as well as the intentions, hopes and ethics of the work. Practitioner points Children in the care system face multiple adversities from a number of contexts, both pre-care and in care; Children and young people may not wish to access direct therapeutic work, but their key adult networks can support their mental health and wellbeing by working together; Systemic principles and social constructionist theory can help us do effective multi-agency working.
