Books, booklets & multimedia

Every child is special - Placing disabled children for permanence

	Price: £9.95	BAAF, March 2006 ISBN 978-1-905664-09-2

Like any other child, disabled children who are separated from their parents need permanent families. As many as 40 per cent of children needing permanence have an impairment or some form of special need, but for so long these children have been at the margins of family placement. Every child is special brings them centre stage at last.

This Good Practice Guide tracks the converging processes of planning for a permanent home for disabled children, and recruiting suitable families. It covers: assessing and communicating with children; recruiting and assessing families and making links; planning permanence; profiling and featuring children; and supporting placements. It examines some of the organisational structures that form the context of this work and highlights the changes that are necessary if more disabled children are to have the security of a permanent family.

The guide provides an overview of disabled children 'in need' and 'looked after' and describes current models of disability. It acknowledges the problem of definitions and terminology and discusses impairment in terms of language and popular culture. Relevant legal issues are also briefly explained.

No one who works with children should think that disability is someone else's issue. This guide is for all childcare workers, children's disability teams, adoption and fostering teams and adoption support agencies.