Drawing on professional experience from a broad range of perspectives, this is a consideration of the central features of the development of a responsive fostering service. The book focuses on the effectiveness and efficiency of existing assessment methods, with a view to improving and innovating foster care. Each chapter introduces an important aspect of foster care and substitute family care, whether it be personal, professional or organizational. A range of current issues is examined, including: the emotional links between child, foster parent and birth parent; the development of good practice in different traditions; the discussion of continuing, unresolved professional dilemmas; and the organizational context of foster care within the modern state. The book renders the existing literature more accessible to students and practitioners, as well as generating new material.