Lifebooks are a valuable tool in preparing children for adoption, but they are also important for any child trying to make sense of loss, trauma and change. “Putting the Pieces Together” is a joint effort between Lutheran Social Services of Illinois and the Center for Adoption Studies to develop training for permanency workers, foster parents and adoptive parents on the importance of Lifebooks, and the tools and skills needed to use them to help children heal. The video “Putting the Pieces Together” and accompanying materials demonstrates the importance of Lifebook work as well as ways to accomplish this work.
Lutheran Social Services of Illinois.
Children in foster care often lack important pieces of their lives. Lifebook work enables children to fill in missing information and to make sense of what has happened to them. This project uses the video created by the project, “Putting the Pieces Together: Lifebook work with Children” to demonstrate how necessary this work is. Child welfare workers, therapists, foster and adoptive parents and adopted youth discuss the losses and traumas children face and describe methods that enable children to put the pieces of their lives together. The video is accompanied by exercises and handouts which further explain Lifebook work.
The video: Putting the Pieces Together.
Video is completed. Sample lifebook pages and initial training materials are also available. A comprehensive guidebook for conducting training using the video and related materials is forthcoming.
This one hour video is completed and available. A range of training materials will be available fall of 2008.
[Updated April 22, 2008]
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