Guidebook Introduction

This guidebook was created to support parents, foster carers, and childcare professionals with family contact for children in foster care. The terms ‘contact’ and ‘access’ will be used interchangeably when referring to the time that children in care spend with members of their family. The child will be referred to as ‘him’ or ‘her’ in different sections of the book. Family contact can be very stressful for children to manage, and they need support with it, before it is paused or diminished. This guidebook was created from my experience working with children in foster care as a social worker, a play therapist, a researcher, and a Guardian ad Litem.

I am the director of Gallore Child and Family Services, and my colleagues and I are deeply committed to optimising children’s experiences of family contact. Helen Tully, Guardian ad Litem has contributed to this guidebook by sharing experiences, insights, and research into sibling contact. Sarah Murphy, Guardian ad Litem shares experiences of working in the field of adoption in relation to the importance of family contact for children separated from their birth parents.