FAMILY PLACEMENTS FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN - A DOUBLE COMPARISON

This article compares family placements for adults with those for chil dren with special needs. Findings are presented of a postal survey whi ch was carried out in the UK and closely based on a survey undertaken shortly before in the USA and Canada. There were a number of similarit ies between the programmes for adults and specialist schemes for child ren, despite their different purposes, origins and contexts. Although outcomes are often good, both types of project have worrying levels of breakdown, whilst a number of adult schemes are precarious in status and resourcing.