Bridging the divide between education and social work in order to improve the prospects of looked after children

In the same period that British researchers have revealed a lack of effort to promote looked after children's ability to cope with academic challenges, extensive and efficient methodologies have been worked out within the field of education. The first part of this article presents some of the research findings on the child welfare system. The second part describes relevant educational methodologies. The concluding section proposes that the methods described in Part Two should be implemented in the field of child welfare. Educational failure predicts both problems in care placement and severe social problems later in life. Despite improvement in the child welfare system in recent years, looked after children are still at high risk of educational failure. Effective educational methodologies exist, but are seldom applied by child welfare professionals. The author argues that the spectrum of tasks in social work should be enlarged. The social worker's competence and responsibility should include promoting looked after children's cognitive development and educational achievement.