Adoption and Fostering in Scotland (Policy and Practice in Health and Social Care)

Much adoption and fostering practice in Scotland is the same as elsewhere in the United Kingdom, especially in relation to social and demographic changes; developing policies and practices, such as post-adoption information exchanges; responding to the challenges that face children adopted from local authority care; and incorporating birth parents in support services. This volume summarises Scottish adoption and fostering practice and highlights where Scottish practice or the Scottish legal environment differs from elsewhere in the UK. Research findings that have UK-wide application, for example, the need for sensitisation of foster parents to the challenges in caring for a child that has been sexually abused and the needs of post-care adults are discussed. The authors begin with a brief history of developments in care for children who cannot be looked after within their biological families. A chapter on Kinship Care brings the policy framework up to the present. They end their book with a chapter that points to current gaps in knowledge, policy and practice. The result is a short, readable survey of Scottish practice set in the context of developments in other jurisdictions. As such it is valuable to students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as to those practitioners whose work involves adoption and fostering.

Gary Clapton is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh. Pauline Hoggan is an experiences practitioner in adoption and fostering in both the independent and local government sectors.