Abstract

Fostering is vitally important: the majority of looked after children are fostered, yet these children are often left out of the agenda and their voices are not heard.

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 in partnership with children who are fostered, and discusses children's views about fostering systems and living with foster carers. The book then outlines how to put the theory into practice, offering models, processes and best practice examples. Practical advice is given on establishing effective communication and good working relationships between practitioners, carers and foster children.

This insightful book aims to promote better services and outcomes for fostered children, and will be essential reading for social work practitioners and students.

Annabel Goodyer is Principal Lecturer for Social Work, London South Bank University, UK. She is a qualified social worker and has many years' experience working with children and families.
This is a book which anyone working with children and young people in foster care needs on his/her shelves.
Children & Society
The author's model is aspirational, informed by children and young people's views, and give practical advice on effective communication and participation... overall the book offers a very useful review of developments in fostering practice, and utilises a wide evidence base. It is well-structured and would be of interest to a broad range of practitioners.
Children & Young People Now
Based on thorough, sociologically informed research into children's stories about being fostered, this book challenges some of the dominant theoretical and conceptual approaches to understanding children's experiences... [It is] an excellent review of literature as well as a research-informed text in its own right..[and] offer[s] real possibilities for a way forward and for shaking up professional vocabularies about children and fostering where these have become stale.
From the Foreword by Sue White, Professor of Social Work (Children and Families), University of Birmingham, UK