The State of It: Stories from the Frontline of a Broken Care System

I could not put this book down. I have read a lot of books and this book is written exactly as it should be, given that it is written by a care experienced professional. The book guides you through the authors experiences of working with young people and along side other professionals in the unregulated housing provisions sector. The authors experiences working with refugees, asylum seeking children and children at risk of exploitation are all discussed in individual chapters. The authors is honest and raw. The authors values truly shine through throughout the book. I particularly like how his own opinions were offered because this enables the reader to envisulise the authors and the young peoples experiences thoughts, warts and all.

I ordered this book along with another after hearing the author speak at a conference I attended for work, the service was impecable.

Was unsure what to expect after reading reviews of this book. Was pleasantly surprised. This book and Chris's previous one opened my eyes to the "care system" in the UK. Having been through the system myself I thought I knew all about it. I was so wrong. If there's one book you read about broken Britain then please read this one. Thanks to Chris wild for standing up and shouting for the unknown and faceless children in the UK "care system".

The system is broken, there is no getting away from it and it is a multifaceted and complex problem. However, it is one that must be addressed, as too many children and young people, continue to be failed!!!! Through his book, Chris is shining a light on a most important issue that requires us all to take a stand and support. As difficult as the subject matter is, I very much enjoyed the audio, and I am encouraged and inspired to continue to care and act. No matter how small an action, together we can make a difference.

Read it and weep then get angry at the state of the system but I am also uncomfortable that the author has used children’s experiences and monetised them for himself in a book. Did he have their consent?

Nothing that Chris Wild wrote about is particularly surprising considering the governments that we have had for the last ten years-cut-cut-cut profit profit profit-private does best. Children in care will be well down the list of priorities. However a book like this needs to be read. Obviously it is a one sided discussion, and there are n views from the opposite camp. There continue to be terrible child in care issues, and the people at the bottom are blamed, and yet in most cases it is not their fault, but their masters and money issues. Let's hope that a book like this causes some action to be taken, and just silky words uttered and no action.

It’s a part of society often forgotten about, but this incredible read brings the children in care system in to the spotlight and hopefully it can create more discussions to tackle this inequality.Chris’s work continues to show that we must not give up, even when like so many parts of society it may feel like nothing will be done by those at the top.

As a student social worker, I found this book incredibly frustrating, as well as tedious and sometimes just a tool to promote his first book, which isn’t what writing should be about.Within the first few chapters social care is really slated, and while I appreciate there are some professionals that are not in it for the right reasons, this by no means is the same for the rest of us. There seemed to be no recognition of the good, positive work that lots of social workers do with young people.There was too much of the author’s opinion in it, which is really not that helpful as decisions are made about young people using professional judgement, which take into account lots of factors like risks, safeguarding, protective factors….. this sometimes sounded like the rant of a person at the pub.I was hoping to use this book to reference in my dissertation (which is about how the use of professional language impacts young people in care), but sadly, I didn’t even get to the half way before deciding the book wasn’t for me.