Books, booklets & multimedia

Effective Fostering Panels
Written by Sarah Borthwick and Jenifer Lord (BAAF, 2006)
Price: £7.95
Guidance on regulations, process and good practice in fostering panels in England

Ten Top Tips for Placing Children in Permanent Families
Written Hedi Argent (BAAF November 2006)
Price: £7.95
This quick reference guide explores the issue of child placements, with an emphasis on evidence from practice and experience. It provides clear and concise accounts of what works and what does not, and includes the views of children and families. Each of the ten chapters explores a key theme – such as finding a family and agreeing a support plan - in an accessible, straightforward and highly readable style.

Care or control?
Foster care for young people on remand
Written by Jo Lipscombe (BAAF, November 2006)
Price: £12.95
This important new research study is the first to focus specifically on the use of foster care for young people on remand as an alternative to custodial and residential accommodation. It challenges negative public and political attitudes towards young people who have been charged with committing an offence, as well as the impact of these attitudes on criminal justice policy.

Recruiting black and minority ethnic adopters and foster carers
Written by Gwen Rule, (BAAF, November 2006)
Price: £9.95
This Good Practice Guide will help social workers, social work managers and all those involved in the recruitment of adopters and carers from black and minority ethnic communities. It includes a wealth of imaginative ideas and tips that can be used in recruitment strategies across the UK, and features case examples from a voluntary agency, local authorities and consortia.

Getting sorted!
Written by Rebecca Davidson, Illustrated by Fran Offord (BAAF , 2006)
Price: £9.95
A practical handbook for young people aged 14-19 years who are either moving into foster or residential care, or are moving out to live on their own for the first time. Packed with advice and information, easy to read and use, and illustrated with highly original cartoons, this book offers essential training on living life safely and well for young people taking their first steps to independence and responsibility.

Getting more sorted
Written by Rebecca Davidson, Illustrated by Fran Offord (BAAF , 2006)
Price: £9.95
A practical handbook for young people aged 16-19 years who are moving out to live on their own for the first time. Packed with advice and information, easy to read and use, and illustrated with highly original cartoons, this book offers essential training on living life safely and well for young people taking their first steps to independence and responsibility.

Preparing to Adopt - Training pack
Devised by Pat Beesley, Barbara Hutchinson, Ian Millar and Sushila de Sousa
Written by Eileen Fursland (BAAF, September 2006)
This new edition of BAAF’s established and highly respected training programme sets out a comprehensive approach to preparing adopters. It has been thoroughly revised and updated to meet the legislative requirements for both procedure and practice in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and reflect the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The Trainer’s Guide includes imaginative exercises and reference to further reading as well as a CD-ROM containing presentations and handouts.
Trainer’s Guide: £35.00
Applicant’s Workbook: £23.00 (£20.00 + £3.50 VAT)
DVD/Video: £47.00 (£40.00 + £7.00 VAT)

An Adoption Diary
By Maria James (BAAF, 2006)
Price: £7.95
This is an inspirational story of one couple’s emotional journey to become a family, which gives a fascinating insight into adoption in Britain today. An Adoption Diary provides a moving real life account of an adoption, chronicling every aspect of the adoption process. Spanning almost four years it covers the assessment procedure, the workshops, the heartache of months of waiting, and the final match with a two-year-old boy who lives over 200 miles away.

Attachment handbook for foster care and adoption
by Gillian Schofield and Mary Beek (BAAF, May 2006)
Price: £24.95
This comprehensive and authoritative book provides an accessible account of core attachment concepts. Vivid case examples are used throughout to make connections with the reality, both the challenges and the rewards, of daily life in foster and adoptive families. This book will be an indispensable resource for practitioners, foster carers, adoptive parents and all those seeking to ensure that children in need of family care get the very best experience possible and that foster carers and adoptive parents get the support they deserve and need.

Costs and outcomes of non-infant adoptions
by Julie Selwyn, Wendy Sturgess, David Quinton and Catherine Baxter (BAAF, May 2006)
Price: £12.95
This book reports the findings of a Department of Health-funded study of a complete sample of 130 children for whom an “adoption in best interests decision was made during a defined period in the 1990s. It allows an accurate assessment of the success of adoption as a placement choice to be made, and makes recommendations for policy and practice based on this complete sample. It will be of interest to all those involved in making placement decisions for “looked after” children.

Dealing with disruption
by Hedi Argent and Jeffrey Coleman (BAAF, May 2006)
Price: £7.95
This Good Practice Guide is concerned with children who move into permanent placements and then have to move again contrary to expectations. It considers various aspects of disruption, using case studies throughout to illustrate the points made, and useful appendices include a sample of a disruption report. This guide will be invaluable for professional involved in making permanent placements for children.

In Search of Belonging – Reflections by transracially adopted people
by Perlita Harris (BAAF, May 2006)
Price: £17.95
This is the first UK publication to give voice to transracially adopted children and adults. A highly original anthology of poetry, artwork, autobiography, memoir, and oral testimony, it brings together established writers, new and emerging writers and those who have never been published before. Contributions are drawn from over 50 transracially adopted people, ranging in age from six to 56, and born and adopted in the UK and countries as different as Kenya and Hong Kong, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and El Salavador.

Every child is special - Placing disabled children for permanence
by Jennifer Cousins (BAAF, March 2006)
Price: £9.95
This Good Practice Guide tracks the converging processes of planning for a permanent home for disabled children, and recruiting suitable families. 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. 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.

A guide for medical advisers -
Advocating, promoting and protecting the health of looked after children in Scotland
by Ian Millar with Eileen Fursland (BAAF, March 2006)
Price: £6.95
Many medical advisers to adoption, fostering and permanence teams and panels have little direct experience of adoption and fostering, and can find the surrounding legal and social work context intimidating. This guide sets out the main issues surrounding the work of the medical adviser, looking particularly at the work of the medical adviser in Scotland, where the legal system has a significant effect on practice.

Nutmeg gets into trouble
by Judith Foxon (BAAF, March 2006)
Price: £12.00
This engaging story follows Nutmeg, the small red squirrel, as he continues on his adoption journey. School is a major part of every child’s life and this new book explores some of the problems that adopted children may have, or may come into contact with, in the school environment. Designed to be read to or with children by their own social worker, their current carers or adoptive parents, the story will encourage children from a wide age range to explore their feelings about their circumstances and situations.

Adoption Now - Law, regulations, guidance and standards
By Fergus Smith and Roy Stewart with Deborah Cullen (BAAF, March 2006)
Price: £7.50
Quick to use, comprehensive and portable, this handy pocket book draws together all current legislation, rules, guidance and procedures relating to adoption in England today. It covers all stages of the process and related information – in easily digested bite-sized chunks - and also includes the National Minimum Standards. With all essential information brought together in such a compact format, the busy practitioner and professional will find this little compendium an invaluable quick reference guide and immense timesaver.

Adopting a Child
by Jenifer Lord (BAAF, 2008)
Price: £8.95
With over 60,000 copies already sold, this beginner’s guide is the book for anyone who is thinking of adopting a child or children. Now in its 8th edition it provides essential information and helps explain the adoption process.

Life Story Work: what it is and what it means
by Shaila Shah and Hedi Argent (BAAF, January 2006)
Price: £3.95
A guide for children and young people
This new addition to BAAF's ever-popular children's guide series explains what life story work actually is. It describes the actual process of undertaking life story work, including when to do it, who can help and how, what can go into a life story book and who owns the work. The guide also shows how life story work can be done using imaginative techniques and different media, and that it can be fun!

Child Care Law: A summary of the law in England and Wales
by Deborah Cullen and Mary Lane (BAAF, January 2006)
Price: £9.95

The fifth edition of this popular quick reference guide to the law in England and Wales relating to the care of children has been thoroughly revised to include reference to all recent legislation, including new regulations, guidance and standards