Given that foster carers are a scarce resource it is essential that every effort is made to retain their services. This paper considers the role played by social workers in this endeavour. The results reported here form part of larger study, involving seven local authorities, concerned with the wider issues of supporting foster placements. The paper describes the qualities sought of social workers by foster carers and discusses the relationship between these qualities and the likelihood that carers will continue fostering. It was found that carers are highly satisfied with the job of fostering, are committed to it and view social workers as a vital source of support. Promoting good relationships between social workers and foster carers is therefore an important element in any strategy that aims to retain good foster carers.

A follow‐up study of 141 young people in 48 children’s homes examined changes in their moods, relationships with their family and adjustment. The average scores of the group on these variables changed little between first interview and follow‐up 6–9 months later. However, some individuals improved and others deteriorated. Improvements in family relationships were more likely in homes where the head of home could describe strategies for fostering family ties. Improvements in adjustment were also more likely in homes where the head of home could articulate ways of enabling change in key areas of the residents’ lives. Residents who spoke of attempts to bully them were more distressed at the time of the first interview and less adjusted at follow‐up. The study underlines the damaging effects of bullying and the key role of the head of home.

A major limitation to the effectiveness of grafts of fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue for parkinsonism is that about 90-95% of grafted dopaminergic neurones die. In rats, many of the cells are dead within 1 day and most cell death is complete within 1 week. Our previous results suggest that a major cause of this cell death is the release of toxins from the injured CNS tissue surrounding the graft, and that many of these toxins have dissipated within 1 h of inserting the grafting cannula. In the present experiments we measured the change over time in the concentration of several potential toxins around an acutely implanted grafting cannula. We also measured the additional effect of injecting suspensions of embryonic mesencephalon, latex microspheres, or vehicle on these concentrations. Measurements of glutamate, aspartate, and dopamine by microdialysis showed elevated levels during the first 20-60 min, which then declined to baseline. In the first 20 min glutamate levels were 10.7 times, aspartate levels 5 times, and dopamine levels 24.3 times baseline. Potassium levels increased to a peak of 33 +/- 10.6 mM 4-5 min after cannula insertion, returning to baseline of <5 mM by 30 min. Injection of cell suspension, latex microspheres, or vehicle had no significant effect on these levels. We then assayed the effect of high concentrations of glutamate, aspartate, dopamine, and potassium on dopaminergic neuronal survival in E14 ventral mesencephalic cultures. In monolayer cultures only dopamine at 200 microM showed toxicity. In three-dimensional cultures only the combination of raised potassium, dopamine, glutamate, and aspartate together decreased dopaminergic neuronal survival. We conclude that toxins other than the ones measured are the main cause of dopaminergic cell death after transplantation, or the effects of the toxins measured are enhanced by anoxia and metabolic challenges affecting newly inserted grafts.

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