KIRKUS REVIEW
In The Changing Family series, a journalist surveys the history and current status of foster care and the issues involved in placing children outside their immediate families. Davies's clear, well-organized text includes chapters on such topics as why foster care is needed, what it's like, parents and caseworkers, legal issues, controversies, and alternatives. She cites her sources in full with extensive notes. What's missing is the human element; the author uses almost no anecdotes to bring her statistics and generalizations to life and hardly reveals concern, much less passion, regarding her subject. Well documented and evenhanded, but so dry that only those who need the abundant information for a specific purpose will be likely to read it. B&w photo insert; bibliography; index. (Nonfiction. 12+)