Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Taking a Chance on the Pacific Northwest

1. Seeking Alternatives to Institutional Care

2. Child Relinquishment: The Last Best Hope

3. Sorted, Boarded, and Reformed: Coming into the Care of WCHS

4. Completing God's Plan and Competing Desires: Negotiating Adoptive Parenthood

5. Biology, Botany, and Belonging

6. Traveling Children: Placement, Re-placement, and Return

Conclusion: A Home for Every Child: The Elusive Promise

Appendix

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Promotional Information

Looks at how, when, and why modern adoption practices became a part of child welfare policy.

About the Author

Patricia Susan Hart is associate professor of journalism and American studies at the University of Idaho.

Reviews

"A smooth and informative narrative on the history of this pioneering Pacific northwest home placement society and a balanced treatment of its achievements and limitations." - Xi Chen (Pacific Northwest Quarterly) "A lucid and engaging history . . . an essential contribution to the literature on child dependency, foster care, and adoption. Hart . . . made it clear that the assumptions implicit in contemporary policy discussions . . . have a long history." - Alice Hearst (Reviews in American History) "Helps to round out historical knowledge of child-saving practices in the period before the full professionalization of social work. . . . a fascinating and in-depth study of the multiple actors and institutions that shaped adoption practices." - Felice Batlan (Social Service Review) "[A]s a history of a movement that remains with us today, the book is fascinating." - Ann Patricia Payton (Columbia)