Foster Children

What happens to looked-after children in the longer term? This book analyses the outcomes of a large-scale study of foster children in the UK. It includes individual case studies and draws extensively on the views of foster children themselves. The authors examine:Why children remain fostered or move to different settings (adoption, residential care, their own families or independent living)How the children fare in these different settings and whyWhat the children feel about what happens to them.Other important issues covered include the support given to birth families to enable children to return home, the experience of adopters, the ways in which foster care can become more permanent and the experiences of young people in independent living.In bringing together these results the book provides a wealth of findings, many of them new and challenging. It offers positive and practical recommendations and will be an enduring resource for practitioners, academics, policy makers, trainers, managers and all those concerned with the well-being of looked-after children.

Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction. 2. Movements and Destinations: An overview. 3. Going home: Who returns and how do they do? 4. Going home: What makes a difference? 5. Adoption: Who is adopted and how do they do? 6. Adoption: What makes a difference? 7. Foster care: Can it offer permanence? 8. Foster care: Does it feel like a family? 9. Leaving care: What makes a difference? 10. Living independently: What makes a difference? 11. Tara's story: A case study 12. Alistair's story: A case study. 13. A common explanation? 14. Conclusion. References. Appendix 1. Sampling Bias in Sweeps 1 and 2. Appendix 2. Sampling Bias in Sweep 3. Appendix 3. Some Key Variables. Appendix 4. Adoption Parents' Views and Advice. Subject Index. Author Index.