Gillian Schofield

For children growing up in foster care, the role of their birth parents is an important factor in the success of their long-term placements. Understanding the experiences of parents is therefore essential in order to develop effective social work practice with parents that can also ensure the best possible outcomes for children. Drawing on detailed and often moving interviews with parents, the book takes a chronological approach, starting with their accounts of family life before their children were taken into care, in particular the impact of drugs, alcohol and domestic violence. It goes on to explore their experiences of court and then how they seek to come to terms with their loss, sustain an identity as a parent and manage a relationship with their children through contact. Parents' views on what they find valuable and helpful in relationships with foster carers and social workers are also discussed. The book then draws on the views of social workers on the opportunities and challenges of supporting parents, while also remaining child-focussed. The authors set out a model of good practice, based on the lessons learnt from the experiences of these parents and social workers. This book will be essential reading for all child and family social workers, fostering social workers, independent reviewing officers, academics and foster carers.

This ground-breaking text offers a comprehensive and penetrating account of how social developmental perspectives and attachment theory can illuminate practice in the field of child protection and family support. Drawing extensively throughout on fascinating case-study material, the text moves from an introduction to the key theories to a detailed outline of the main methods and processes. It offers a carefully developed and systematically tested practice and assessment model for professionals in this challenging and complex area and, as such, will be an invaluable resource for students and professionals alike.

How can social workers enable vulnerable children to have a voice in the complex systems designed to protect them and promote their welfare? How can children be helped to make sense of complicated and disrupted lives? This core text addresses these and other challenging questions, setting out the principles and practice of social work with children and demonstrating the diversity of the work through carefully chosen case material. It will be essential reading for all social workers in training and practice involved with children.