Product Description: The journey to adulthood is a big step for all young people. However, for young people leaving care it may be far more difficult, coping with major changes in their lives and at a younger age, especially if they lack preparation and support...read more

Product Description: Quality Matters in Children's Services brings together authoritative research to explore critical concerns for those working with vulnerable children, young people and their families. Subjects covered include reunification, stability and wellbeing, kinship care, educating vulnerable young people, child protection, domestic violence and parental substance misuse, the participation of disabled young people and advocacy services...read more

Product Description: How can social workers and agencies best support young people as they make the transition from care to independent living? This authoritative study investigates the successes and failures of care services for young people, identifying factors that hinder effective transition from care and the types of support that help to promote positive life choices...read more

Going Missing presents important findings from the first major study of young people who go missing from residential and foster homes. By exploring the diverse reasons why young people go missing and what happens when they do, the authors highlight the impact both of individual motivations and of residential and foster care contexts on the patterns associated with going missing. The authors address the serious risks that young people may encounter while missing, including the dangers associated with sleeping rough, offending, sexual exploitation, and substance misuse. The longer term implications of repeatedly going missing for the structure of young people s lives are also explored. In outlining the strengths and limits of the different professional responses to young people who go missing, the authors present an analysis of the difficult professional task of managing risk for different groups of people. Conclusions drawn from this unique study are considered in terms of their wider implications for * developing preventive services for teenagers * the nature of residential and foster care provision * inter-agency approaches to supporting young people Addressing the growing concern about runaways from residential and foster care, and eliciting the wider implications for the care system today, Going Missing is essential reading for practitioners in the social and welfare services; policy-makers; and students and lecturers on higher education courses.

Product Description: Linking both theory and practice, this text examines the issue of how children are to be looked after if they cannot live in more traditional family units. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)