Relinquished

A Trauma-Informed Road map for One of Child Welfare’s Most Difficult Transitions

When children are removed from the home, they often struggle to understand what happened, what comes next, and whether they are to blame.

Relinquished introduces a structured framework for professionals supporting children from birth through age eleven, birth parents, and permanent caregivers through removal, potential termination of parental rights, and transitions toward permanency.

Drawing on more than two decades of clinical and child welfare experience, Tania Sossi shows readers how to bring greater clarity and emotional support to a process too often defined by uncertainty.

Readers will learn how to:

• explain difficult changes in developmentally appropriate language;
• support children experiencing grief and attachment disruption;
• prepare parents and caregivers for emotionally charged transitions;
• coordinate communication across multidisciplinary care teams;
• approach transition and goodbye visits with greater care; and
• reduce avoidable confusion without presuming a particular legal outcome.

Designed for social workers, therapists, attorneys, caseworkers, guardians, educators, and caregivers, Relinquished provides practical guidance for preserving dignity and supporting healthier paths toward permanency.