Surviving and Thriving in Care and Beyond: Personal and Professional Perspectives

This is a book about children who have to grow up apart from their biological parents, the impact of this on their lives and on those who look after them, and how we can respond to the challenges this poses in order that they can grow and develop in healthy directions. It provides a systemic framework to describe working with children and adults who are or have been in care or adopted, as well as working with their adoptive parents and carers, highlighting their own narratives and those of professionals working with them.

The authors have tried to make space for multiple voices to speak and describe aspects of the care system and life beyond. There are contributions from those who have been brought up away from their biological parents, their adoptive parents and foster or kinship carers. There are also contributions from researchers and professionals with expertise in working with children in substitute care, who describe their theoretical and clinical approaches, privileging the voices of those with whom they work.

This book seeks to highlight the possibilities and opportunities that can be offered and taken by people who were not able to grow up in their biological families. Combining a mixture of insider knowledge, realism, creativity and hope, it is essential reading for all working and living in this field.