The EPDF and EPUB are available open access under a CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This publication was supported by the University of Essex's open access fund. How do young people transitioning from care plan their future lives? Planning is usually thought of as requiring clear goals and ‘future orientation’, but how might planning be regarded by young people whose wishes, hopes, and plans have been repeatedly dashed? In this book Peter Appleton builds on research interviews with care-experienced young adults, and on cross-disciplinary theories of planning and of emotions, to develop a creative and non-dogmatic three-aspects model of planning for young people leaving care. A valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, and educators, this book puts forward a powerful case to think more broadly and flexibly about transition planning with care-leavers, placing the voices of young people at its heart.

An authoritative text highlighting the key issues affecting young people taking the step from leaving care to adulthood. Covers relevant research, policy and practice, and advises on how best to understand, prepare and support young people.

This book contains extensive practice information, original research material and policy findings about young people leaving public care and the work of leaving care projects. Each chapter contains good practice and policy examples, and the book concludes with a critical analysis of key practice, policy, and theoretical issues.

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. Mike Stein discusses key issues for policy and practice in the development of quality services including identifying and sustaining quality through involving stakeholders, integrated working and quality services, the development of policies, procedures and organisational processes and carrying out quality assessments, training and workforce reform. This book is essential reading for practitioners, senior staff, commissioners, managers and anyone involved in developing quality children's services.

Although outcomes for children in care have improved in recent years, there remains a significant and widening gap between these and the outcomes for all children. The childhood and adolescence of many of the 60,000 children in care at any one time is often characterised by insecurity, ill-health and lack of fulfilment, resulting in the fact that they are over-represented in a range of vulnerable groups, including the homeless, teenage parents, young offenders and prisoners, those not in post-16 education, employment or training, and drug users. This Green Paper from the Department for Education and Skills sets out a series of proposals which seek to address this situation by reforming both the way the care system works for children and the quality of experience they receive. Proposals include: an improved placements system with the focus on expanding the number and quality of foster carers; powers for local authorities to direct schools to admit children in care, even where the school is fully subscribed; pilot schemes to allow young people to continue to live with foster carers up to the age of 21 years; introduction of a national bursary for young people in care going to university; regular Ofsted inspections of how each local authority is meeting the educational needs of children in care; better support to prevent exclusions of children in care; and enhanced entitlement to free school transport to ensure children do not have to change school when they change placement. The closing date for responses to this consultation document is 15 January 2007, either sent by email to: [email protected] or by post to: Consultation Unit, Area 1A, Castle View House, East Lane, Runcorn, Cheshire WA7 2GJ. A series of focus groups and workshops will be held throughout the consultation period to consider views on the Green Paper, and four working groups of interested stakeholders are being set up in order to explore issues in more detail (under the headings of the future of the care population, social care pratices, placement reform, and best practice in schools) which will report to the DfES in Spring 2007.

With the growth in the use of restorative justice and restorative approaches, this book takes an in-depth look at their applicability in the environment of children's residential care homes.