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The early intervention foster care program: permanent placement outcomes from a randomized trial
Philip A Fisher1, Bert Burraston, Katherine Pears
1Oregon Social Learning Center, Eugene, OR 97401-2426, USA. philf@oslc.org
Insights
The Early Intervention Foster Care Program (EIFC) reduces failed permanent placements for preschool foster children. EIFC mitigates risks associated with multiple placement changes, improving long-term outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Child Welfare Research
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Work Interventions
Background:
- Preschool foster children are at high risk for adverse long-term outcomes.
- Increased placement changes exacerbate these risks.
- Existing foster care systems may not adequately address these complex needs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of the Early Intervention Foster Care Program (EIFC) on permanent placement stability.
- To determine if EIFC mitigates the negative impact of prior placement instability.
- To establish an evidence base for EIFC as a preventive intervention.
Main Methods:
- Randomized clinical trial comparing EIFC to regular foster care.
- Focus on preschool-aged children in foster care.
- Analysis of permanent placement outcomes and number of prior placements.
Main Results:
- Children in the EIFC program experienced significantly fewer failed permanent placements.
- EIFC eliminated the association between prior placements and placement instability.
- Prior maltreatment type did not predict permanent placement success.
Conclusions:
- The Early Intervention Foster Care Program (EIFC) significantly improves permanent placement stability for preschool foster children.
- EIFC effectively buffers the detrimental effects of placement history.
- EIFC demonstrates promise as a preventive intervention to enhance foster care outcomes.
Abstract:
Preschool-aged foster children face multiple risks for poor long-term outcomes. These risks appear to increase with the number of placement changes experienced. The Early Intervention Foster Care Program (EIFC) targets the spectrum of challenges that preschool-aged foster children face via a team approach delivered in home and community settings. In this article, we report on permanent placement outcomes from the EIFC randomized clinical trial. Children in EIFC had significantly fewer failed permanent placements than children in the regular foster care comparison condition. The number of prior placements was positively associated with the risk of failed permanent placements for children in the comparison condition but not for children in EIFC. Type of prior maltreatment did not predict permanent placement outcomes. These results provide the foundation of an evidence base for the EIFC program as a preventive intervention to improve permanent placement outcomes for preschool-aged foster children.
