Book reviews: Understanding and working with parents of children in long-term foster care

Understanding and Working with Parents of Children in Long-Term Foster Care

★★★★★

Gillian Schofield and Emma Ward, 2010

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

ISBN: 9781849050265

More relevant for less experienced workers or students, there is nothing in this book that empathetic and experienced social workers would not know already.

It details the many difficulties faced by birthparents that may lead to child abuse and neglect, such as domestic violence and substance misuse, and features interviews with 32 birthparents before and after their children were taken into care.

Much of the book is direct quotations from parents and as such features a lot of the negative experiences that parents naturally go through in these situations. This bothers me because focusing too much on the views and feelings of birthparents may distract from the need to protect children.

The final chapter goes some way to counteracting this by promoting a fostering triangle that includes the parent. I would hope this is already common practice in social work departments.

Louise Hollick is senior practitioner, Fostering Agency

Community Care‘s book reviews can be found at www.communitycare.co.uk/bookreviews