The Art of Child Placement

The social worker -- experienced or neophyte -- who is engaged in the complicated job of placing children in foster homes or institutions will find helpful guidance in this book. Although she writes primarily of the problems of foster placement, the author offers a philosophy and principles that will be useful also in child adoption work. Mrs. Charnley discusses child placement in relation to the physiological and psychological growth patterns of children. She shows how the social worker can ease the child’s pain of separation from home and parents and tells how to reach a confused young mind with the explanation for such an uprooting. She focuses her viewpoint upon the child but gives careful attention also to such intimately related problems as casework with foster and “own” parents. The book is rich in case histories which show the processes involved in solving typical problems. Many of the cases are suitable for staff discussions and in-service training programs, since they are condensed and presented in sharp focus. The Art of Child Placement was first published in 1955.