Understanding and Working with Parents of Children in Long-Term Foster Care

Schofield and Ward (child and family social work and Centre for Research on the Child and Family, U. of East Anglia, UK) offer a guide for child and family social workers, fostering social workers, independent reviewing officers, academics, and foster carers to understanding the experiences of parents whose children are in long-term foster care. They trace their various experiences from when the children were still at home, through and after the separation into foster care, and into the teenage years, to promote social work that recognizes and supports these parents but also focuses on the child, and ways to manage this relationship. They discuss parental experiences and views of contact, relationships with foster carers and social workers, the identity of parents, the views of social workers, and issues in developing a model of practice with parents, children, foster carers and other professionals. They draw on research based on a study at the Centre for Research on the Child and Family at the University of East Anglia. Policies in England are emphasized. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)