Ian Sinclair is Co-director of the Social Work Research and Development Unit at The University of York, where he has been responsible for a large programme of work on children's homes and foster care. His research interests include attachment theory and the evaluation of social work and social work services. Claire Baker is a Researcher at the Social Work Research and Development Unit at The University of York. Her research interests include disabled children, children in foster care and stability and permanence issues for looked after children. Kate Wilson is Professor of Social Work at the Centre for Social Work, University of Nottingham. She has researched and published widely in the fields of therapeutic work and child welfare, including books on social work with couples, social work in a legal context, non-directive play therapy, and adoption and fostering. Ian Gibbs is a Researcher at the Social Work Research and Development Unit at The University of York. His main area of research is looked after children, particularly those in residential care and foster care.