The article draws on the first stages of a large-scale longitudinal study into foster care with 'looked after' children. It uses data supplied by 950 foster carers in response to a postal questionnaire designed to document the proportions who had experienced one or more of six potentially stressful 'events': breakdowns or disruptions, allegations, relationship with birth parents, family tensions, 'tug of love' cases, and other disagreements with social services. The article uses carers' comments to describe their reaction to the 'events'. It then examines the relationship between the 'events' and measures of carer stress, satisfaction with fostering, and intentions to continue fostering. Overall, two-thirds of the sample had experienced one or more of these 'events' and these were associated with a measure of mental ill-health and with attitudes towards continuing fostering. At any one time, around six out of ten of the children looked after by local authorities are placed with foster carers (Department of Health, 1997). Although the numbers of foster children (currently around 33,000) have remained fairly constant (Berridge, 1997), they constitute a proportion of those in the care system which has roughly doubled since the 1970s. So it seems likely that foster carers are having to cope with more troubled and more challenging children (Warren, 1997), at the same time as they negotiate the treacherous waters between the Scylla of family needs

Much is now known about bullying and, to some extent, sexual harassment in settings such as schools. In residential children's homes, however, the two remain disturbing features of institutional life. This is a particular cause for concern as many of the residents in these homes, given their troubled backgrounds, are at greater risk of becoming victims of perpetrators. This article looks at the incidence and effects of these related maladies within the context of a wider study involving 223 children in 48 residential homes in five local authorities. The study found that fellow residents, rather than staff, were the main sources of physical and sexual abuse. Both bullying and harassment (actual and attempted) were strongly associated with the widespread misery reported by many residents. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The issues surrounding skill mix are often highly contentious and, not surprisingly, various interest groups either welcome or reject attempts to examine the different combinations of staff, qualified and unqualified, experienced and inexperienced, in relation to costs, outcomes and quality of nursing care. Despite the strong passions aroused by the debate, other factors, most notably demographic changes and the possible shortage of nurses, new demands on health care services and the call for more cost-effective use of resources, have kept skill mix foremost on the policy agenda. The review covers manpower planning, an area where considerable efforts have been made to determine the number but rarely the mix of nurses required to provide the necessary care for patients. In addition, previous work on staff turnover, and the possibility of substituting less qualified for more qualified staff, are examined in relation to cost-containment, recruitment and demography, and the creation of a new single level of nurse. These factors, along with the introduction of health care assistants, will have an important influence on the future shape and structure of nursing and, of course, the composition of the skills available. While calling for further work on skill mix, the review provides a timely reminder that the issues are complex and often highly political.

Based on findings from their recent study, Ian Sinclair, Kate Wilson and Ian Gibbs discuss the criteria which foster care needs to meet if it is to fulfill the requirements of looked after children. Analysis of 150 postal questionnaires from foster children showed five main preoccupations: the care they received from their foster families; the relationship between their feelings for their foster and their birth families; their contact with and prospects of return to their birth families; the predictability of their care careers and their own say in them; and the ‘ordinariness’ or lack of it of their lives. Despite these common preoccupations, the children varied widely in what they wanted (eg whether they wanted to return home).

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