Book of the Month May 2019 - Life Work with Children Who are Fostered or Adopted

Life Work with Children Who are Fostered or Adopted: Using Diverse Techniques in a Coordinated Approach by Joy Rees

​The author of this book, Joy Rees, is already well-known for her previous writing on life story work (Life Story books for Adopted Children: A family Friendly Approach 2009) where she put forward the model of working with children incorporating Present- Past-Present-Future.

This time, Joy Rees takes a wider look at the purposes and different aspects of life work as well as offering ideas on how best to approach this work. The title of this book sets the tone and immediately moves the reader away from any preconceived ideas about this being a one-off piece of work. She discusses the right of children to  know their history and also to receive help in making sense of it. She believes that “Life work should be at the heart of our involvement of all children in care” and regrets the confusion amongst professionals and the tendency to tag on this vital work as an afterthought. This has come about, she feels, because of lack of training in this area and also because of the emphasis on performance indicator-led social work practice. She sees the child’s Life Story Book as only an aid to ongoing life work and not as an end product.

Joy Rees prioritises the need to understand each child and to take into account their emotional and cognitive development, not their chronological age. “Think toddler” is her mantra. In order to do this, she believes that all those involved with the child should have an awareness of child development, neuroscience and attachment theory. She advocates a team approach and suggests that life work should not be the responsibility of the child’s social worker alone. She suggests including foster carers, the adoption and fostering team workers and anyone from other, independent agencies, who knows the child.  There is also an expectation that adopters or long-term carers will continue this work. Birth family members contributions are vital, too, as they are “the most significant source of information about the child’s early experiences”, though she does acknowledge that the timing of their involvement may depend on where things are in terms of future planning. In some instances, she writes, life work should start prior to the child being accommodated and, of course, it should continue throughout their time in care. She believes that the issue of life work should be raised formally at each review meeting.

I really appreciate the approach which Joy Rees advocates, coming as it does, from her experience in this area of work and her understanding of children’s needs. As well as offering a theoretical justification for life work, she covers practical issues and tackles some ethical dilemmas, such as balancing the rights of children to have an understanding about their past v the dangers, in a digital age, of giving identifying information.

This is a wide-ranging book that touches many important issues. At its heart, life work is helping children with their story, which may need to be told and re-told many times. However, the story must be given with honesty and transparency. I felt like cheering when the author referred to Lorne Loxtercamp, who has written so convincingly of the need for honesty in telling the child’s story and for this to be integral to any on-going contact!  Joy Rees comes from 40 years’ experience as a social worker specialising in children’s social care services.  As such, she appreciates that helping a child to understand their past can touch issues in those around them. She reminds us that we need not do this work alone and that anyone involved in helping a child with life work should have access to good support. As she writes towards the end of this excellent and insightful book, “To help the child in care, it takes a team”.
 
Heather M Drysdale
Systemic Psychotherapist/Adoption & Fostering Consultant

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