Family & Relationships : Adoption

Children in public care complain that they have too many placements. Professionals agree but little is known about the reasons for this instability or how it affects different groups of children. The Pursuit of Permanence explores this core issue for children's services. Based on the largest study of the English care system in recent years, the book examines the children (what they need and what they want), their movements into, out of and within the care system, the nature and quality of their placements and the outcomes (whether the children are settled or happy). It analyses the reasons for movements and outcomes in different groups of children, and the relative impacts of the departments, social work teams and placements. It concludes with suggestions about how the care system should work, what it should offer and how it should be managed and inspected. This detailed, innovative and comprehensive study is essential reading for all professionals and academics involved with fostering, leaving care, adoption and children's services, as well as policy makers and students on social work courses. more...

Price: $60.00

The remarkable story of a couple who risked everything to open their home--and their hearts--to answer an abandoned child's wish. It was a small note buried in the file of a deeply troubled eleven-year-old boy--a plea for a normal life Rich and Sue Miniter couldn't ignore: The Things I Want MOST: A family A fishing pole A familyThe Miniters heard in that simple note the voice of a frightened child who wanted what all children want and need: someone to love who would love them in return. more...

Price: $19.00

Exploring the complex issues of trauma, attachment and family placement, the contributors to this book provide a variety of complementary perspectives on practice in this area. Focussing on how to integrate attachment theory and developmental psychology in practice with adopted or fostered children, they emphasise the need for understanding of early trauma and its effect on child development. Examining multiple aspects of work with children who are unable to live with their birth families, the book includes contributions on: new approaches to matching children with families; effective management of contact with birth families; the neurobiological effects of trauma on children; problems and developmental challenges in school; the use of creative arts therapies with children and families. The book adopts an inclusive approach, valuing the parent as a central member of the therapeutic team. Contributions from user families illustrate the challenges of bringing up fostered or adopted children and show how the attachment-based approach has worked for them. Bringing together a rich and innovative selection of ideas for adoption and fostering practice, this book will be a valuable resource for all involved with family support in this area. more...

Price: $29.95

In Chicago, Theresa Reid and her husband had lucrative careers and a beautiful home. What was missing from their lives was children. But they knew in Eastern Europe, there were children who were missing parents-and they set out to find their family. This is Theresa's account of how Natalie and Lana came to be her daughters-a journey that takes readers not only to Moscow and Kiev but into the deepest parts of a mother's heart. Reid addresses the issues that arise for many an adoptive parent- including the guilt over taking children away from their roots, and the slow, stumbling steps toward trust and tenderness that played out between them. For any parent, adoptive or not, this book offers not only a compelling story but valuable insights into the transformative power of loving a child. more...

Price: $14.00

From Adoptive Families magazine, the country’s leading resource on adoption, this warm, authoritative book is full of practical, realistic advice from leading attorneys, doctors, social workers, and psychologists, as well as honest, intimate stories from real parents and children. more...

Price: $16.00