Social Work and Foster Care (Post-Qualifying Social Work Practice Series)

Working with children in foster care is a demanding and rigorous aspect of social work practice. Difficult decisions in fast-moving and often complex situations have to be made, and for students and practitioners alike, there is a vast array of legislation, law and social policy to understand.

This book is written to help social workers and social work students get to grips with the complexity of foster care. The child is placed at the heart of the text and there are substantial chapters on law, policy frameworks and the overreaching theoretical and research evidence to support good practice. There is also a strong focus on practical skills such as empathy and relationship-based practice.

This is an essential text for experienced social workers or those currently in training.

Helen Cosis Brown is a Principal Lecturer in Social Work at Middlesex University.  She also works as an independent foster carer reviewing officer and currently chairs a local authority fostering panel. She worked as a social worker and a social work manager in inner London before moving into social work education. Her publications focus on fostering and adoption and social work with lesbians and gay men.