Abstract
Reviewed by Jean Harris-Hendriks, Retired Senior Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UK
This book is rich in BAAF tradition and makes me remember with pride my membership of the Medical Group under the chairmanship of Dr Tina Cooper and how much I learned then. The introduction emphasises the former charity’s life-enriching contributions to the never-ending necessity to commit multidisciplinary skills to work with children and families who require the protection of a family justice system. It is hoped that these will continue under the auspices of the new CoramBAAF Adoption & Fostering Academy.
A list of contributors, from specialist social work, paediatric medicine and nursing, public health, clinical psychology, learning disability, general practice, law and research and development, makes clear the audience to which this book is heartily recommended. Dental health is discussed in detail. Given that only some 40% of the UK population regularly attend a dentist – with far lower figures likely for children who lack a stable home life, perhaps including abuse and neglect – attention to this area of looked after children’s care needs is especially welcome. However, I would have liked to read more on visual and auditory impairment.
I was particularly pleased to see Peter Barnes’s and Florence Merredew’s chapter on quality assurance and service commissioning, a theme deserving a publication in its own right. After first looking at what health professionals need to know about this area, including the importance of keeping up to date with best practice guidance, the authors explain the roles of individual strategies, such as the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy in England, and how to use these most effectively as essential tools for providing the best possible healthcare services to looked after children.
Other topics include consent and legal provision, health promotion, disabled children, unaccompanied asylum-seeking and other separated children, care leavers and those approaching leaving care, privately fostered children and adult health assessment. Chapter 2 contains some five pages on the health risks for children exposed to alcohol before birth.
The chapters are readily accessible to members of each complementary discipline. There is a section on relevant legislation and the Appendices on current regulations are timely.
An index would be a useful addition to the next edition since this will enable cross-referencing between chapters; for example, I tried to track information about Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) across specialisms only with difficulty. I hope that the next edition also will include a contribution from a psychiatrist to complement the very helpful chapter by Geraldine Cresswell, a clinical psychologist writing about the child’s mental health and well-being. There will need to be some update about recent developments on the complex interlinks between disorders of attachment and developmental trauma disorder – work that is so helpful to carers and professionals alike.
Currently in the UK, child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) services receive six per cent of the mental health budget yet are expected to serve all young people up to the age of 18 years, as well as to liaise with services for adults; social services departments are trying to continue services to care leavers in addition to all other commitments; the prison service is overcrowded; the needs of asylum-seeking and trafficked children are almost silent; and cuts in legal aid continue. Against this background, there is more need than ever for CoramBAAF as a multidisciplinary forum and agent for research, education and service funding and development. Long may it flourish. This book is a great help.