Working the ‘spaces’ between policy and practice: the contributions offered by resilience theory and action research Antonia S. Hendrick* and Susan Young† *Lecturer, Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin University, Western Australia, and †Discipline Chair, Centre for Vulnerable Children and Families, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Australia ABSTRACT The policy-practice dimension often presents challenges particularly in the policy arena of child well-being. Policy designers identify risk factors and design programmes intended to develop protective factors in areas of need.The 2004 Australian Communities for Children (CfC) initiative aimed to improve the social, health and educational out- comes for young children living in socio-economically disadvantaged localities. Its method was to engage local community members to contribute towards developing protective factors. Rather than con- sidering this national–local arrangement, an unworkable alliance, we examine the performance of CfC through three examples and dem- onstrate how resilience theory and action research can assist this programme achieve its social inclusion aims and well-being out- comes. We choose not to disregard policy programmes like CfC, rather we emphasize the possibilities offered when working these complex spaces involving multiple and inherent contradictions. The spaces that often exist between the policy and its implementation are rethought to allow a greater opportunity for the growth of innovation and change. Correspondence: Antonia Suzanne Hendrick, Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia E-mail: a.hendrick@curtin.edu.au Keywords: action research, developmental approach, ordinary magic, resilience theory, risk/ protective/ promotive/ factors, social transformation Accepted for publication: November 2011 INTRODUCTION Policy and its implementation into workable and effective programmes can be challenging, with a seeming divide between design and practice. In this article, we examine a national policy direction and programme and, using our experiences of participa- tion in its local implementations, provide a way of theorizing a practice-policy integration. The Commu- nities for Children (CfC) initiative was part of the overall Stronger Families and Communities Strategy (SFCS) policy implemented in 45 sites Australia-wide and was directed to improve health, well-being and educational outcomes for children from disadvan- taged communities. Our theorizing for working the ‘spaces’ between policy design and practice imple- mentation draws on resilience theory as the guiding premise for providing protective and promotive factors to guard against risk in early childhood, to which is added the practices employed through an action research (AR) process to enable local partici- pation and reviewing. While research is part of its title, AR provides a clear method through which to promote and enact change rather than set a standard approach to conducting social inquiry. It is the method of enacting change that was used in the CfC processes we describe. We argue that the merger of resilience theory with AR practice enables a better theorization of the policy/practice dimension to con- tribute to policy development. BACKGROUND CfC was an initiative under the Australian SFCS and is an example of the many social policies ‘returning to community’ to affect change in the life opportunities doi:10.1111/j.1365-2206.2011.00819.x 179 Child and Family Social Work 2013, 18, pp 179–188 © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd