Praises Wegar's examination of the debate over sealed birth records and searching for birth parents to explore the meanings of kinship, family, and identity in contemporary culture. Criticizes the work's lack of incorporation of open adoption literature, overlooking of feminist works, and lack of strategies for changing negative attitudes toward…

Reviews the longitudinal study on special needs adoption examined in Groze's work. Notes that the main strength of the book is showing how these adopted families are different from other families. Criticizes the work's limitations, including small sample size, use of self-reports, and decreased information when the children became adolescents.…

Finds the author most effective when recounting personal experiences of dealing with regulations and bureaucratic procedures of adoption. Finds the book ineffective as a critique of adoption because of a fallacious premise that there is a shortage of children available for those waiting to adopt due to a defective adoption system. (Author/SD)

The brief paper summarizes the final report of a federally funded project titled, "Ramps Are Not Enough: The Movement of Children with Mental Retardation from Institutional to Community-Based Care." The follow-up study of former residents (N=178) of New Hampshire's Laconia State School included an examination of residential and…

Compares and contrasts the issues presented in two books pertaining to child poverty, policy, and welfare reform: "The Welfare of Children" (Duncan Lindsey) and "Rethinking Child Welfare in Canada" (Brian Wharf, Editor). Both provide excellent analysis and recommendations but lack attention to tracking systems that place children in different…