Description

Adoption and fostering practice in Scotland is much the same as elsewhere in the UK, 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 * incorporating birth parents in support services. This book summarizes Scottish adoption and fostering practice, outlines major developments, and highlights where Scottish policy and legal framework differ from elsewhere in the UK. Research findings that have UK-wide application are discussed - for example, the need for sensitization of foster parents to the challenges in caring for a child that has been sexually abused and the needs of post-care adults. The book begins 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 Scottish policy and practice framework up to the present. The book concludes with a chapter that points to current gaps in knowledge, policy, and practice. Adoption and Fostering in Scotland is a short and readable survey of Scottish practice set in the context of developments in other jurisdictions. As such, it will be valuable to students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as to those practitioners whose work involves adoption and fostering. (Series: Policy & Practice in Health and Social Care - No. 16)