A key question in foster care is what happens to cared-for children in the longer term: foster care needs to be evaluated not on its own, but as part of a child's 'career' or lifepath. Drawing on the findings of the largest recent study into foster care in the UK, and including quotes from children themselves, this book examines the impact on children three years after they have left foster care. The authors ask what influences outcomes of foster placements, what constitutes a good outcome, and what conditions are needed to ensure placement success. They include information on: - factors influencing how children are placed - differences in the impact of long- and short-term placements - the extent to which placements can provide a 'permanent home' - support to birth families to enable children to return home when they want to - how children experience foster care and where they want to be in the future. Reaching positive and practical conclusions, Foster Children: Where they go and how they get on is an unique resource for policy makers and practitioners, as well as local authorities working to formulate policies that will provide the support and training to ensure the future well-being of cared for children. - Authoritative -- study commissioned by the government as part of Supporting Parents Initiative - Much-needed -- centres on the child's ongoing experiences of foster care - The largest recent study of foster care in the UK.