Journal review – Adoption and Fostering: Special issue: Listening to the children

Adoption and Fostering: Special issue: Listening to the
children
Volume 29, number 1: Spring 2005, guest edited by Caroline Thomas
and Nigel Thomas, BAAF Adoption and Fostering,
ISBN 03085759, £7.95

STAR RATING: 5/5

If you are a practitioner or policymaker wondering how to truly
involve children and young people in decision-making then this
volume may capture your interest, challenge your thinking and
inspire you to engage young people more confidently and
effectively, writes Fiona Black.

This volume is for a broad audience, not solely workers within
family placement.

The articles fall into two areas: gaining children’s views to
involve them in decision-making about their individual lives; and
involving them in decisions about services that affect children’s
lives more generally.

There are some practical ideas for listening to pre-school children
in order to understand their world through their eyes, and there
are articles about how practitioners can empower young people to
communicate with and influence adult-structured
organisations.

The article on the voice of the child in family placement
decision-making within a developmental framework was particularly
valuable. It explores in detail what it means to truly understand
children’s views and wishes, enabling them to know they have been
heard and considered seriously.

Fiona Black is fostering manager, Cornerways Fostering
Services