Children of the State

Abstract

This paper is a development of the scene setting presentation made by Nick Frost, Professor of Social Work (Children, childhood and families), at the 'Fostering Matters' symposium that was held at the University of Salford in March 2007. By focussing on the stability of placements and education, the paper considers the Green Paper Care Matters: Transforming the lives of Children and Young People (DfES 2006a) and the subsequent White Paper Care Matters: a Time of Change (DfES 2007) in terms of New Labour's ideological approach to the modernisation of services. Although there have been criticisms of the government's policy, it is concluded that there has been a distinct shift away from the minimalist help that was offered to children who were unable to live with their families.