This paper provides an overview of the state of the art in consultation at the close of the third decade of its existence as a major form of delivering mental health services in the United States of America, and its somewhat later introduction in Victoria, Australia. Gallessich’s framework for consultation (1983, 1985), amongst others, is compared with the Victorian model. Issues raised include the need for consultants to understand the boundaries of consultation, its limitations, the state of its knowledge base and the uniquely Victorian contribution of a framework of several levels which enables an integration of the knowledge borrowed from a range of sources to assist in the improvement of its practice. A later paper to be published in ‘Children Australia’ looks at the steps in the consultation process.

This paper sets out a series of principles for minimising the trauma of transitions experienced by children in out of home care. It is based on a child centred approach that has as its goal making transition bearable and psychologically useful for each child who must go through it, creating a space where even previous transition wounds might heal. The paper concentrates particularly on the complexities of helping children to move between foster care and permanent care placements.

This paper critically examines Marxist and feminist literature on child protection, and identifies both their strengths and weaknesses. The author concludes that, while both ideologies call for broader policy reforms to address the prevalence of poverty and male violence, the core responsibility of statutory systems remains the protection of children and their rights.

This paper examines the principles of procedural fairness and their application to welfare practice. The paper considers whether social workers ought to measure the adequacy of their practice, not just against those requirements ususally set out in the professional Codes of Ethics, but also against the procedural fairness expectations of decision-making more usually the province of courts and like bodies. The paper concludes that these expectations are not only in keeping with the Code of Ethics, but that competent practice demands no less of practitioners.

As the number of male sole parents in the community increases, it is not uncommon for professionals to be faced with requests for counselling and parenting support from men who are single fathers. Issues and challenges that face sole fathers are many and varied, including cultural aspects, gender issues, age and personal factors such as the capacity as a father to be therefor the child.

Many issues which need to be addressed when working with single fathers are not dissimilar to those experienced by single mothers. However, there are salient issues which appear unique to the sole father population. These include the lack of support for male sole parents and the father’s self concept. A dilemma that may confront professionals is how to be mindful of the protective needs of children in these families (in order to prevent the emergence of ‘high risk’ concerns), while providing effective and innovative support.

Case studies will be drawn upon to illustrate the issues confronting sole fathers, and the kinds of outcomes that may result from providing counselling and support to this target group. (Names and identifying features have been changed to ensure client confidentiality.)

Let me introduce myself. My name is Jill Wain, I am and have been married to a wonderful and supportive husband, Greg, for 34 years and we have seven children. Three of my children are the result of our fostering experience and I have four birth children. The children range in age from 7 to 33 years. Up until recently five were still living at home but major house renovations have come up with some creative options that have actually moved two on, but with threats that they will be back when the house is finished. We will wait and see. That fridge with food in it seems to hold the key, or is it something else?

So let me pose the question, what did 1 think fostering was going to be about? On the positive side I guess it was having fun times with kids, playing at the beach, reading stories, games at the park, playing on the tractor and offering a child a few experiences they may not have had, and perhaps there would be the occasional vomit that I would certainly ask my husband to clean up (I am not very good at dealing with this), the odd tantrums and perhaps the poo smeared on the walls as a bit of a balance.

This paper was commissioned for this issue of Children Australia to integrate perspectives of the caring team and its broader social context.

Substantial changes in the nature of foster care during the last few decades place increasing demands not only on foster parents, but also on all members of their family. Some of these changes include the increasing number of children needing foster care and the resultant growth in the number of foster families, the move towards deinstitutionalisation, the use of treatment and specialist foster care and more emphasis on family reunification. Despite this, biological children of carers receive very little attention and recognition of their contribution.

In spite of the extensive literature on the subject of foster care, very little has been written on the impact of fostering on biological children. The literature related to foster care has primarily focused on professional processes, such as assessment and selection of foster families and management of the placement of a foster child. The limited amount of literature available on this topic is mainly from the UK and the US and is mainly related to foster mothers and their perceptions, with very little reference to their birth children. This along with my personal interest and practice experience has inspired me to conduct a literature review and write this paper.

The mail I receive is both one of the best and one of the worst things about writing this contribution to Children Australia and other pieces for journals and the broader media. The letters I receive raise a number of questions. Why are abusive letters so often written in red or green ink? Or both? Why do abusive letters use so many CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks?!! Why are abusive letters so often anonymous?

Family planning is still a problem for some countries and organizations. In other countries, where there is a general decline infertility and families become smaller, childhood is changing. Where families are wealthy enough, childhood and education lengthen. The WorldForum’98: Justice for Children, held in Manila in November, gave Filipino children the opportunity to say what needs to change. The agenda produced by them is a model that other agencies in other countries could usefully follow.

Schools and teachers are increasingly seen to be an integral part of the welfare system and are expected to cope with very challenging children, many of whom are in residential or alternative family care. The longitudinal action-oriented research which is described in this article, highlighted the joys and difficulties which teachers face in supporting these children and their foster, permanent care and adoptive parents. Themes of role, power, control and support in the teachers’ accounts are explored and three implications for practice are suggested.