| Andy Sayers and Roana Roach
This Good Practice Guide provides authoritative, practical information on the benefits of Child Appreciation Days for all concerned. It outlines how best to organise these events, and how to run them before, during and after the event.
| Elaine Farmer, Wendy Sturgess, Teresa O’Neill and Dinithi Wijedasa
Reunification has been little studied in the UK but given its place in care planning for looked after children, it certainly deserves greater attention. This study, looking at 180 children, follows the patterns and outcomes of return home; which factors are associated with successful and unsuccessful returns; and the families' views on returns. The results of the study provide important conclusions for policy and practice.
| John Pratt
This pamphlet helps panel minute-takers to meet statutory requirements and produce accurate and high quality minutes.
| Lorna Miles
This compelling story, published as part of the Our Story series, tracks Wayne’s journey from first being fostered by Lorna at the age of nine, in a therapeutic fostering placement, through nearly four years of family life. Wayne is traumatised by his early experiences of neglect and domestic abuse. Even when surrounded by a team of experienced foster carers, counsellors and therapists, helping him grow and heal will be a long and difficult process. But Lorna and her family are determined not to give up hope…
| Nina Biehal, Sarah Ellison, Claire Baker and Ian Sinclair
This book reports the findings of a study which compared three types of permanent placement: adoption by strangers, adoption by carers, and long-term foster care. What were the outcomes for the children? How stable were the different placements? And what were the emotional, behavioural and relationship difficulties of children in each type of home? This book provides important evidence on the outcomes of different permanent placements.
| Helen Jayne
Published as part of the Our Story series, this is the story of Helen, a foster carer, and her family, and what happened when Dale joined their family as a foster child. But what was planned as a short-term foster placement soon became longer than expected, and inevitably the family grew attached to Dale, and he to them.
| Berni Stringer
This guide describes a wide range of play techniques that are simple to carry out, creative and can be fun. They will help children to talk about their feelings, fears and hopes. Using case examples, the guide shows how workers can become more skilled at observing and encouraging attachment behaviour, more effective in interpreting and communicating assessment findings to adoptive parents, and better able to help carers understand and use these findings in their day-to-day parenting.
| David Pitcher
Change can cause confusion and uncertainty for children, but particularly for fostered and adopted children. This charming children's story uses Poppy and her lost panda to explore change, continuity, and anxieties about moves, changes and attachment in a way that feels safe and nonthreatening.
| Rebecca Daniel
This lift-the-flap picture book introduces young children to the idea of different families and the meaning of belonging. It can also be used to address concepts of fostering, adoption and moving to a new home.
| Eileen Fursland
This guide provides information on what may have happened to trafficked children and young people, how to assess and place these children, what to do if you are starting to look after a trafficked child, and how a young person who has been trafficked may behave. It is illustrated with case studies and quotations from young people who have themselves been trafficked, and who talk about their stories.
