Intercountry adoption represents a significant component of international migration; in recent years, up to 45,000 children have crossed borders annually as part of the intercountry adoption boom. Proponents have touted intercountry adoption as a natural intervention for promoting child welfare. However, in cases of fraud and economic incentives, intercountry adoption has been denounced as child trafficking. The debate on intercountry adoption has been framed in terms of three perspectives: proponents who advocate intercountry adoption, abolitionists who argue for its elimination, and pragmatists who look for ways to improve both the conditions in sending countries and the procedures for intercountry transfer of children. Social workers play critical roles in intercountry adoption; they are often involved in family support services or child relinquishment in sending countries, and in evaluating potential adoptive homes, processing applications, and providing support for adoptive families in receiving countries; social workers are involved as brokers and policy makers with regard to the processes, procedures, and regulations that govern intercountry adoption. Their voice is essential in shaping practical and ethical policies of the future. Containing 25 chapters covering the following five areas: policy and regulations; sending country perspectives; outcomes for intercountry adoptees; debate between a proponent and an abolitionist; and pragmatists' guides for improving intercountry adoption practices, this book will be essential reading for social work practitioners and academics involved with intercountry adoption.

This new book from life work expert Joy Rees explains the value of effective and meaningful life work with children who are fostered and adopted, and how best to carry this out. This book will help social work professionals, foster carers and adopters to understand the many aspects of life work and to consider the important contributions they can all make to this task. Life work is about helping children to know and to understand their personal stories and the life experiences that have shaped them. Enabling children to reach their potential and achieve the best possible outcome is the common goal, and this is best achieved by using the collaborative approach to life work advocated in this book

Fosterage was a central feature of medieval Irish society, yet the widespread practice of sending children to another family to be cared for until they reached adulthood is a surprisingly neglected topic. Where it has been discussed, fosterage is usually conceptualised and treated as a purely legal institution. This work seeks to outline the emotional impact of growing up within another family. What emerges is a complex picture of deeply felt emotional ties binding the foster family together. These emotions are unique to the social practice of fosterage, and we see the language and feelings originating within the foster family being used to describe other relationships such as those in the monastery or between humans and animals. This book argues that the more we understand how people felt in fosterage, the more we understand medieval Ireland.

This book presents an innovative relational and community based therapeutic model to ensure children's essential attachment needs are catered for in intensive mental health care. The text combines an overview of theory relating to attachment and trauma before laying out a model for working with children and adolescents in an attachment-informed way. The approach applies to a diverse range of settings - from in-patient psychiatric settings, through to schools-based programs, and provides the reader with the knowledge and guidance they need to introduce the approach in their own service. It also addresses the complexities of working with specific clinical populations, including children with ADHD, ASD, RAD and psychosis. Accessible for entry level clinical caretakers, yet sophisticated enough for clinical supervisors, this book is essential reading for professionals looking to improve the effectiveness of child and adolescent treatment programs.

This book expands our understanding of a growing, yet largely unstudied phenomenon: the flow of children across borders through intercountry adoption. What explains the spread of intercountry adoption through the international system over time? McBride investigates the interconnected networks of states, individuals, and adoption agencies that have collaborated to develop the practice of intercountry adoption we see today. This book tells the story of how adoption agencies mediate between individuals and states in two ways: first by teaching states about intercountry adoption as a policy, and second by helping states implement intercountry adoption as a practice. McBride argues that this process of states learning about intercountry adoption from adoption agencies has facilitated the global development of the practice in the past seventy years.

'The authentic inside track... Gripping' Lemn Sissay 'An important and hugely powerful book... So inspiring, I loved The State of It' Neil Morrissey 'Incredibly compelling' Denise Welch CAN WE FIX HOW WE LOOK AFTER CHILDREN IN CARE? Government cuts, unregulated care homes, inadequate staff training - campaigner and care home consultant Chris Wild has seen it all. The low standards and frequent abuse of children in care has long been a focal point of his loud message: we are failing our young people and something needs to change. Chris delves deep into the lives of care home kids, from experiences with county lines, drugs, trafficking, knife crime, gang violence to child exploitation and sexual abuse. He tells the stories of the voiceless, the children who have been left behind, compounded by his own experiences of growing up in care. How is the care system failing our young people and controlling just who and what they can become? What help do we really give children after their time in care is over, left to fend for themselves? Is it too late to fix the state of it? URGENT AND CRITICAL, THE STATE OF IT WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK YOU READ THIS YEAR. In support of Become, the charity for children in care and young care leavers, a charity registered in England and Wales, charity number 1010518.

Therapeutic parenting is not your usual parenting style. It's a special, specific way to raise kids who have experienced trauma in their past, and requires a lot of commitment and determination - this is about far more than love and care. But where do you start? This book is the ideal first step for anyone who wants to understand how therapeutic parenting works. It offers simple summaries of the key ideas behind it, fully illustrated throughout with informative cartoons and graphics. Over 40 different issues are covered, from dysregulation and fear, to setting boundaries and parenting in the midst of trauma. The perfect introduction for new therapeutic parents, family members, teachers or other adults who need to help support you and your child, this Quick Guide will also be a source of inspiration for more experienced parents.

How can we help heal children who have been abused or neglected? Healing Child Trauma Through Restorative Parenting details how children can be helped to recover with the use of Restorative Parenting, an innovative model informed by psychological and neurological understanding of trauma and its effects. It explains the critical role that people, relationships and the environment play in a child's recovery. It shows what constitutes a therapeutic environment, whereby a child experiences therapy not as one-to-one sessions but as a lived experience. The authors show how other components of the model - building therapeutic relationships, promoting positive education and encouraging clinically informed life style choices - are intimately linked, each critical to the re-parenting which the child undergoes. This book will be welcomed by professionals working with children, including those in residential, health and foster care, psychology, education and health, as well as those commissioning services. The models, concepts and practices are transferable to public, private and charitable agencies.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a true story of two deeply troubled boys both in need of a loving home.

This is the sixth title in the series.

The Watsons are astonished when they answer their front door to find their case worker with a small boy on the doorstep. Jenson is just nine years old. He was removed from his home thirty minutes earlier when it was discovered his mother had left him at home while she went on holiday with her boyfriend.

A couple of weeks later Casey is in for a second shock when she is asked to take a second nine-year-old boy, Georgie. Georgie is autistic and has been in a children s home since he was a toddler. The home is closing and social services need somewhere temporary for him to stay. With her own grown up son, Kieron, having Asperger s (a mild form of autism), Casey knows this is one child she cannot say no to.

The relationship between Jenson and Georgie is difficult from the outset. Jenson is rebellious and full of attitude and he kicks off at anything, constantly winding Georgie up. Georgie doesn t cope well with change and is soon in a permanent state of stress. Despite Casey s best efforts, her innate love for the children is being tested and she begins to question if she can handle Jenson s cruelty.

But overtime it becomes clear that the boys have formed an unlikely bond. Could this be the solution to all of their troubles?"

Caleb invites you on a journey to learn about attachment and trauma in this interactive story and workbook intended for children and the adults who support them. Caleb shares his own story about healing from his difficult early experiences, and encourages readers to join him in sharing their stories and completing the healing activities included in the book. Caleb's Healing Story identifies the common challenges that children who have experienced attachment or trauma issues will encounter and offers easy to use interventions in the form of activities and worksheets. Fully illustrated, it is suitable for children aged 5-14, as well as their family, friends and those working with children who present with these issues. It is the ideal companion to A Safe Place for Caleb, by the same author, which outlines theories, definitions and strategies for addressing attachment and trauma-related disorders.

A Guide to Therapeutic Child Care provides an easy to read explanation of the secrets that lie behind good quality therapeutic child care. It describes relevant theories, the 'invisible' psychological challenges that children will often struggle with and how to develop a nurturing relationship and build trust. Combining advice with practical strategies, the book also provides specific guidance on how to create safe spaces (both physical and relational) and how to aid the development of key social or emotional skills for children which may be lacking as a result of early trauma. Written with input from foster carers, the book is an ideal guide for residential child care workers, foster carers, kinship carers, social workers and new adoptive parents.

Conversations about multiculturalism rarely consider the position of children, who are presumptively nested in families and communities. Yet providing care for children who are unanchored from their birth families raises questions central to multicultural concerns, as they frequently find themselves moved from communities of origin through adoption or foster care, which deeply affects marginalized communities. This book explores the debate over communal and cultural belonging in three distinct contexts: domestic transracial adoptions of non-American Indian children, the scope of tribal authority over American Indian children, and cultural and communal belonging for transnationally adopted children. Understanding how children belong to families and communities requires hard thinking about the extent to which cultural or communal belonging matters for children and communities, who should have authority to inculcate racial and cultural awareness and under what terms, and, finally, the degree to which children should be expected to adopt and carry forward racial or cultural identities."

* What are attachment difficulties? * How do they affect children? * How can you help? This book provides clear and concise answers to these important questions - and more. Much more than just a simple introduction to the subject of attachment, the book is also full of advice and practical ideas you can try. It tackles some challenging questions, such as 'what is the difference between trauma and attachment?', and explains how having an understanding of attachment is only part of the overall picture when it comes to caring for traumatized children. It is an essential read for any adult parenting or caring for a child who has experienced attachment difficulties.

The fourth title from Sunday Times bestselling author Casey Watson.

Eight-year-old Spencer takes himself to social services and demands to be taken into care. It s a desperate act, a cry for help, but his parent s reaction good riddance speaks volumes. Casey s hackles are immediately up for this poor child.

Spencer is the middle child of four siblings. His parents claim all their other kids are normal and that Spencer was born vicious and evil . Casey and her family are disgusted kids aren t born evil, they get damaged. Although when vigilante neighbours start to take action and their landlord threatens eviction, Casey is stretched to the limits, trying desperately to hold on to this boy who causes so much pain and destruction.

Casey is determined to try and understand what Spencer is going through and help him find the loving home he is so desperately searching for. But it s only when Spencer s mother gets in touch with social services for the first time that gradually everything starts to make sense."

Meet Chelsea - a young girl who was adopted. Chelsea invites you to learn about adoption from her perspective and introduces us to two friends of hers who were also transracially adopted. Chelsea and her friends help children understand what it means to be adopted, the experiences and challenges that follow the adoption process, and how they can help. Accessible and informative, this illustrated book is an ideal introduction to adoption for children aged 7-11 and is a great tool for encouraging discussions for families, teachers and professionals working with adopted children.

Charley Chatty likes shiny things, especially shiny pennies. Sometimes Charley thinks her siblings get more than her so she likes to keep the pennies safe in her pocket. Charley spots some pennies lying around the house, and puts them in her piggy bank. But she gets very nervous when her Dad starts looking for the missing pennies. Luckily, Charley's Dad is good at working out what might have happened and helps Charley to put it all right again. Written by a mum who understands and her daughter, who is adopted, this insightful story will help your whole family to feel a bit better.

What could cause a mother to believe that giving away her newborn baby is her only option? Cathy Glass is about to find out. From author of Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller Damaged comes a harrowing and moving memoir about tiny Harrison, left in Cathy s care, and the potentially fatal family secret of his beginnings.

When Cathy is first asked to foster one-day old Harrison her only concern is if she will remember how to look after a baby. But upon collecting Harrison from the hospital, Cathy realises she has more to worry than she thought when she discovers that his background is shrouded in secrecy.

She isn t told why Harrison is in foster care and his social worker says only a few are aware of his very existence, and if his whereabouts became known his life, and that of his parents, could be in danger. Cathy tries to put her worries aside as she looks after Harrison, a beautiful baby, who is alert and engaging. Cathy and her children quickly bond with Harrison although they know that, inevitably, he will eventually be adopted.

But when a woman Cathy doesn t know starts appearing in the street outside her house acting suspiciously, Cathy fears for her own family s safety and demands some answers from Harrison s social worker. The social worker tells Cathy a little but what she says is very disturbing . How is this woman connected to Harrison and can she answer the questions that will affect Harrison s whole life?"

'Stella is just like a tiny bird. This is my first impression of her. A quiet little sparrow of a girl.' In her brand-new series 'Thrown Away Children', Louise Allen shares the harrowing stories she is exposed to as a foster mother. The first in the series, Stella's Story, tells the astonishing true story of a young girl scarred by an abusive past. Named after the lager that christened her at birth, Stella's life is characterised instability and neglect. Her teenage mother abandons her in the first few weeks of her life, and left in the 'care' of her father, she ends up lying deserted in a house with no food, no water, no clothes, and no warmth. She eventually lands in the care of foster carer Louise, who is determined to change her life for the better. Things seem to be going well - but when Stella has a startling response to having her photo taken, it becomes clear the scars of her abuse run deeper than anyone could have ever guessed.

The Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of Damaged tells the true story of Donna, who came into foster care aged ten, having been abused, victimised and rejected by her family.

Donna had been in foster care with her two young brothers for three weeks when she is abruptly moved to Cathy s. When Donna arrives she is silent, withdrawn and walks with her shoulders hunched forward and her head down. Donna is clearly a very haunted child and refuses to interact with Cathy s children Adrian and Paula.

After patience and encouragement from Cathy, Donna slowly starts to talk and tells Cathy that she blames herself for her and her brothers being placed in care. The social services were aware that Donna and her brothers had been neglected by their alcoholic mother, but no one realised the extent of the abuse they were forced to suffer. The truth of the physical torment she was put through slowly emerges, and as Donna grows to trust Cathy she tells her how her mother used to make her wash herself with wire wool so that she could get rid of her skin colour as her mother was so ashamed that Donna was mixed race.

The psychological wounds caused by the bullying she received also start to resurface when Donna starts reenacting the ways she was treated at home by hitting and bullying Paula, so much so that Cathy can t let Donna out of her sight.

As the pressure begins to mount on Cathy to help this child, things start to get worse and Donna begins behaving in erratic ways, trashing her bedroom and being regularly abusive towards Cathy s children. Cathy begins to wonder if she can find a way to help this child or if Donna s scars run too deep."

Young people who leave care with few or no educational qualifications are at very high risk of social exclusion in adulthood. Yet in the past their education has attracted little attention from researchers or professionals. Studies by the editors and contributors to this volume show that the educational standards attained by young people in care fall progressively behind those of their peers living with their own families. This research-based book looks at the educational experiences of children and youths in nine different European countries and Canada. It identifies the obstacles that prevent them from realising their aspirations and discusses ways of improving their opportunities. How can countries with different traditions, welfare regimes and administrative systems learn from each other? What needs to be done at national, local and individual levels to give children in care equal chances with those living with their families? At present a child in public care is five times less likely to go to university than others. How can teachers, social workers and carers better support their educational attainment, and enable more of them to succeed and progress to tertiary education? This book was originally published as a special issue of the European Journal of Social Work.

When I am ready, I need you to talk to me and help me understand my feelings...' This reassuring story helps children aged 5+ with attachment issues to understand their feelings, open up to a caring adult and learn how to choose positive behaviours. Ben is made up of lots of different 'parts' - to name a few, he has happy, caring, angry, excited, hugging and yelling parts. Ben explains how all these parts are okay, and that a caring adult can help you to understand and manage them more easily. This book also features activities to help children talk about their feelings, and a simple introduction to attachment theory for adults.