The Lives of Foster Carers analyzes the contradictions, conflicts, and ambiguities experienced by foster carers arising from the inter-penetrations of public bureaucracy and private family life. Topics covered include: social policy pertinent to childcare the history of foster care service available literature on the experience of foster carers public versus private domains in foster care motivations and roles of foster carers how foster carers perceive themselves and their foster children. Based on a wide range of literature and in-depth interviews with forty-six foster carers, this book provides a valuable insight into the concerns, processes and experiences of foster carers in the UK. Jargon free and accessible, it will appeal to foster carers, practitioners, students and academics in social care, youth work and childcare as well as policy makers in children’s services.

Working with children in foster care is a demanding and rigorous aspect of social work practice. Difficult decisions in fast-moving and often complex situations have to be made, and for students and practitioners alike, there is a vast array of legislation, law and social policy to understand. This book is written to help social workers and social work students get to grips with the complexity of foster care. The child is placed at the heart of the text and there are substantial chapters on law, policy frameworks and the overreaching theoretical and research evidence to support good practice. There is also a strong focus on practical skills such as empathy and relationship-based practice. This is an essential text for experienced social workers or those currently in training.

How can professionals work together with foster carers to create stable and therapeutic foster placements? Team Parenting for Children in Foster Care describes a unique model of supporting children in care which involves foster carers and professionals working together in the best interests of the child. This book lays out the key principles of Team Parenting - to meet the needs of troubled young people in an integrated way and incorporate therapy within a wider team of social workers, therapists, psychologists and foster carers - as well as the theory behind it and interventions used. It details how the approach contributes to the recovery of looked after children and each chapter includes examples that illustrates how Team Parenting works in practice. Team Parenting for Children in Foster Care includes ideas for systems and individual practice that will inform and improve foster carers' and professionals' work in any setting.

First published in 1997, this timely examination of allowances paid to foster carers demonstrates clear evidence that the nature of foster care is changing. The degree of difficulty in caring for the average child is greater than ever before making the tasks asked of carers more demanding and skilful. The fostering allowances were subject to five tests of adequacy. Evidence showed that allowances have maintained their value over time and were adequate to meet the normal costs of child rearing but not the extra or indirect costs of fostering. Moreover, a unique cross national study of payments uncovered that Britain has lower levels of allowance than more than half the 15 countries examined. This book contributes to the debate on the measurement of living standards. It uses budget standard methodology to estimate the cost of a child living a modest but adequate lifestyle in the 1990s.

This volume compares international systems, trends and outcomes in foster care today. Each chapter concludes with a critical commentary by one of the contributors, bringing a cross-national perspective to the issues affecting children and young people in care. The book offers new ideas about how foster care could be delivered in order to become more effective. --

This book sets out a child-centred approach to foster care which argues against thinking about children purely from a psychological perspective and instead places children's views, rights and needs at the centre of care. It sets out the theory behind working with children who are fostered, and discusses children's views about the fostering system.

How can we determine success in foster placements? Based on exhaustive research, the authors discuss the primary concerns in foster placement planning, considering the high frequency of placement breakdowns, their impact on the child's behaviour and school performance, and the challenges this places on foster families. The specific needs of the foster child are given close attention in determining a pathway to success. By monitoring and describing the individual characteristics of the child within the context of the placement, the authors are able to reveal what types of supports are most beneficial. The implications for this research are considerable. Social workers are given new methods of assessing the needs of foster children which emphasise the process of care and not just the outcome. Policy makers are provided with rich qualitative accounts with which to increase and strengthen the success of foster placements. This is essential reading for social workers, policy makers and foster families.

This text assesses the current state of provision for looked after children in both the residential and foster care sectors. It addresses a number of specific issues including, admission and placement into care and education of looked after children.

Adolescence is often portrayed as an age of particular risk. Adolescents are not only considered a risk to themselves, but also to the rest of society. As a society, we are nervous of them, and consider them vulnerable, yet the seeds of successful and independent adult life are laid down in adolescence, and they need all the help and support that they can get at a challenging time. Adolescents at Risk: Against the Odds looks in depth at some of the key risks faced by adolescents, and at some of the ways in which they can be alleviated. The book is structured according to the operational challenges the research informs.

The Care Matters White Paper (Cm. 7137, 2007, ISBN 9780101713726) and the resultant Children and Young Persons Act 2008 (ISBN 9780105423089) showed the priority the Government has put on improving outcomes for looked-after children. But the Committee cautions that success will not flow automatically from new legislation or guidance. Previous programmes of substantial reform and investment have left outcomes for looked-after children still lagging unacceptably far behind those for other children. Inconsistency in practice and underperformance against current standards show that there are significant underlying challenges to implementation of the new raft of measures. The report examines the crucial elements of: relationships - stable reliable bonds with key individuals are fundamental to children's security and development; placements - are in short supply and local authorities need more support to increase availability; the performance framework - the quality of decision-making, of relationships, and of children's experiences of care. Three themes run through the Committee's conclusions. First is the importance of a well-trained, fairly paid, well-supported workforce in delivering the care. Secondly is how local authorities can come to approximate more closely the care of birth parents. Thirdly, there is the voice of the child and more independent support is needed for children to express their views. The care system should not be seen as a sanction against failing parents, nor blight children's future prospects. Care must be an integral part of a continuum of effective family support services for families under stress and not functioning well. Parents should expect that children in care will have stability and personalised attention rather than a life ruled by uncertainty and bureaucracy and will have access to all the health and therapeutic care that they need to enjoy life and develop into independent adults.