Young People's Transitions from Care to Adulthood

Mike Stein is a Research Professor in the Social Policy Research Unit at York University, UK. He is also a qualified social worker and has worked as a probation officer, a senior child care officer and an area manager in a social services department. He has spent the last thirty years researching the problems and challenges faced by young people leaving care. He is also a co-ordinator of the Transitions from Care to Adulthood International Research Group (INTRAC). Jim Wade is Senior Research Fellow, Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of York, UK. Emily R. Munro is Research Fellow at the Centre for Child and Family Research (CCfR), Loughborough University. Her research interests include the interaction between different professional groups in the decision-making process influencing life pathways and outcomes for vulnerable children and innovative methodologies to ensure that services users' views inform policy and practice. John Pinkerton is an established academic known for his research and writing in the area of family support. His work is heavily influenced by an international perspective. For the last 15 years he has been an international advisor to the Children's Institute, University of Cape Town. In preparation for legislative change in the 1990s he led a research team from Queen's University Belfast in producing a base line study of family support in Northern Ireland. He has advised government on family support in both the North and South of Ireland. His teaching covers both qualifying and post qualifying training in social work. He is Co-Editor of the British Journal of Social Work, leading on its family and child care content. Robbie Gilligan is Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin and associate director of the Children's Research Centre. He has written extensively on child care and foster care.

• Preface. 1. Introduction: Comparative Exploration of Care Leavers' Transitions to Adulthood - Emily R. Munro, Loughborough University, UK and Mike Stein,University of York, UK.. Part I: International Chapters. 2. Australia - Judy Cashmore, University of New South Wales, Australia and Philip Mendes, Monash University, Australia. 3. Canada - Robert J. Flynn and David Vincent, University of Ottawa, Canada. 4. France - Annick-Camille Dumaret, Centre de Recherche Médecine, Sciences, Santé et Société (CERMES) and Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Paris, France. 5. Germany - Stefan Köngeter, Wolfgang Schröer and Maren Zeller, University of Hildesheim, Germany. 6. Hungary - Mária Herczog, National Institute of Criminology, Hungary. 7. Ireland - Robbie Gilligan, Trinity College, Ireland. 8. Israel - Rami Benbenishty Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. 9. Jordan - Rawan W. Ibrahim, University of East Anglia, UK. 10. Netherlands - Erik J. Knorth, Jana Knot-Dickscheit and Johen Strijker, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. 11. Norway - Jan Storø, Oslo College University, Norway. 12. Romania - Roxana Anghel Anglia Ruskin University, UK and Gabriela Dima, Queens University, UK. 13. Spain - Jorge D. del Valle, University of Oviedo, Spain. 14. Sweden - Ingrid Höjer, University of Göteborg, Sweden. 15. Switzerland - Thomas Gabriel and Renate Stohler, University of Zurich, Switzerland. 16. United Kingdom - Jim Wade, University of York, UK and Emily R. Munro. 17. United States - Mark E. Courtney, University of Washington, USA. Part II: Thematic Issues 18. States of Care Leaving: Towards International Exchange as a Global Resource - John Pinkerton, Queen's University, UK. 19. Legal and Policy Frameworks - Harriet Ward, Loughborough University, UK. 20. Use of Secondary Data to Understand the Experiences of Care Leavers: Cross-National Comparisons - Mark E. Courtney. 21. Transitions from Care to Adulthood: Messages from Research for Policy and Practice - Mike Stein. Glossary. Contributors. Index.

The book is a first step in gaining an international comparison of young people's transitions from leaving care. In this respect it makes a valuable contribution and is well worth reading... Overall, this book succeeds in providing a beginning international comparison of an important area of service provision that has been generally neglected until relatively recently.