This review of research literature is concerned with selected aspects of adoption support, namely the problems for the placed children, the characteristics of the new families, the needs of both children and parents for services and what is known about the effectiveness of interventions for placements in difficulty. Alan Rushton identifies the most useful findings and considers their relevance for providing a modernised adoption support service. He concludes that knowledge is accumulating in many areas although more evaluative research needs to be conducted on promising interventions.
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