As part of a recruitment event for the Foster Care Co-operative for Foster Care Fortnight in May, I reached out to prospective and existing foster carers through a shared love of reading. I decided to put together a fostering reading list and hold a book group at a recruitment event in Sheffield.
On Twitter, I was quickly introduced to new ideas and authors by Steven Jones at JKP Books and Amanda Taylor, founder of the SocialWork BookGroup, which helps to spread the word about the group and the reading list. Amanda invited me to the Sheffield University book group, where they shared ideas about running a group.
Following this research, the Foster Care Co-operative book group was launched with the aim of “learning about fostering through popular non-fiction”. I have been overwhelmed by the interest from staff and foster carers across the agency and how many of us enjoy reading books written by foster carers and those who have been through the care system.
The fostering book group will come together three times a year through an online forum.
The first title the book group is reading and reviewing is Skin Deep by Casey Watson – our feedback will be collated at the end of July.
Foster care authors can be divided into three groups: foster carers, care-experienced writers and social care professionals.
Foster carers write under a pseudonym to protect the identity of the children they write about. While carers writing about their real-life experiences are relatively new in popular non-fiction, they have inspired a wave of educational and experience-based writing.
Care-experienced authors share their historical experiences of fostering and residential care. Their stories allow us to appreciate their experiences of and feelings towards the care system and how they made sense of it at the time, as well as their reflections as adults. These stories help professionals to reflect on their practice.
Finally, the stories from social workers enable us to reflect on the work of other professionals who support a child living at home and understand what happens when decisions are made that a child may need foster care.
In no particular order, here are my top 10 authors in theses three sections.
Foster carers who write about their experiences
Cathy Glass has been fostering for more than 25 years. She wrote her first book, Damaged, in 2007 and has since written a further 24 books. Her website provides updates for readers who want to keep track of what happened next to the children and young people whose experiences have been documented.
Casey Watson tells the stories of 14 children she has cared for, starting with The Boy No One Loved in 2011. Her books are written in chronological order. Watson is a specialist foster carer following a behaviour programme for her agency.
Rosie Lewis has been fostering for more than 10 years, in which time she has cared for more than 20 children. Trapped, her first book in print, follows her publication of a number of short story ebooks. Since then she has written Betrayed and Torn.
Care-experienced authors – adults who write about their experiences in the care system
Ben Ashcroft – Fifty One Moves (2013). This is a powerful book that gives a hard-hitting account of the care system in the 1990s, and is vital reading for anyone wishing to learn about the true effects of multiple placement moves and the resilience it takes to “never, ever give up”. Ashcroft actively supports the campaign for care users to be allowed to remain in residential care until 21 years old.
Lisa Cherry – The Brightness of Stars (2012). This beautifully written book tells Cherry’s inspiring story of her experiences of the care system in the 1980s and her remarkable journey of resilience upon leaving care to find security and carve out a successful career. She also includes stories of other care leavers from the 1960s to the present day which have been shared with her.
Paolo Hewitt – The Looked After Kid (2003). This is Hewitt’s ardent interpretation of his memories of foster care in the 1960s and residential care in the 1970s. It documents his personal experiences of parenting from the shocking to the kind-hearted, but with a fight and spirit to retain his identity. The book follows his love of music and his career as a writer and journalist.
Jenny Molloy (under the pseudonym Hope Daniels) – Hackney Child (2014), Tainted love (2014) and Neglected (2015). Molloy shares her personal story of the care system in the 1980s and early 1990s. She writes about her relationships with her parents, social workers and care staff as they enter her life. These books also feature stories about others from her childhood and early adult years, and document her developing confidence as a writer, educator and fighter.
Social care professionals who write about their work and experiences
Harry Keeble – Baby X (2010), Hurting Too Much (2012) and other titles. Det Sgt Harry Keeble writes about his experiences in Hackney’s child protection team in the early 2000s and some of the shocking child abuse investigations he worked on. In Hurting Too Much he works closely with a new social worker and details the joint working to achieve the best outcomes for the children they encounter.
Martin Weinbren – King Welfare (2010) – Weinbren is a social worker who writes about the experiences of the characterful social worker Jake Atkinson, set in the East Midlands. This is a gritty, real and grim account of the frustrations of frontline practice.
Becky Hope – I’ll never give up on you (2011) – Hope is a children’s social worker who writes under a pseudonym about her experiences of working with children at home and in foster care. Based on true events, this passionate book focuses on how we all can support children’s needs.
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Lynn Findlay is a senior social worker and trainer at the Foster Care Co-operative
The Social Life Blog is written by people who work in or use social care services. If you’d like to write an article for the series, email socialcare@theguardian.com with your ideas.
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