This child care study looks at the return experiences of children looked after by local authorities. It shows that although the vast majority of children go back to their families and home communities, little is known about the process.

It aims to clarify the concept of the return through an exploration of childcare law and relevant literature, and scrutinizes the return process and charts the processes and return avenues experienced by all looked after children. The book also presents data from which researchers can identify groups of children particularly vulnerable to return difficulties and highlights factors significantly associated with the likelihood of return and its success. As it is intended that the study should assist social work practice, an additional aim is to inform social workers about the most effective ways of preparing and managing children's returns.