Description
Book SynopsisAdoption has been a politically charged subject since the Progressive Era, when it first became an established part of child welfare reform over one hundred years ago and in A Home for Every Child, Patricia Susan Hart looks at how, when and why modern adoption practices became a part of child welfare policy.
Trade Review"A smooth and informative narrative on the history of this pioneering Pacific northwest home placement society and a balanced treatment of its achievements and limitations."
-- Xi Chen * Pacific Northwest Quarterly *
"A lucid and engaging history . . . an essential contribution to the literature on child dependency, foster care, and adoption. Hart . . . made it clear that the assumptions implicit in contemporary policy discussions . . . have a long history."
-- Alice Hearst * Reviews in American History *
"Helps to round out historical knowledge of child-saving practices in the period before the full professionalization of social work. . . . a fascinating and in-depth study of the multiple actors and institutions that shaped adoption practices."
-- Felice Batlan * Social Service Review *
"[A]s a history of a movement that remains with us today, the book is fascinating."
-- Ann Patricia Payton * Columbia *
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction: Taking a Chance on the Pacific Northwest
1. Seeking Alternatives to Institutional Care
2. Child Relinquishment: The Last Best Hope
3. Sorted, Boarded, and Reformed: Coming into the Care of WCHS
4. Completing God's Plan and Competing Desires: Negotiating Adoptive Parenthood
5. Biology, Botany, and Belonging
6. Traveling Children: Placement, Re-placement, and Return
Conclusion: A Home for Every Child: The Elusive Promise
Appendix
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
