ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines issues for parents, children and carers, many of whom are grandparents, when children are placed in out-of-home care, either temporarily or permanently. Children are frequently placed in the care of grandparents, usually grandmothers, and members of the extended family Others are cared for by non-kinship carers in foster care or other formal placements. Children in kinship placements often live impoverished lives without the resources available to children in other out-of-home care settings. A successful out-of-home placement should achieve several ends. The child is well-nurtured by carers who understand and care about the child and his or her family. When children are being placed in alternative care, emotions often run high, and it can be difficult to set behavioural expectations for parents and kin. Carers of children who have experienced severe neglect and abuse may have powerful protective feelings towards the child which inhibit the process of family contact and reunification.
