Interventions in Foster Family Care: A Systematic Review

• Published in: Research on social work practice Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 3 - 18
• Main Authors: Bergström, Martin, Cederblad, Marianne, Håkansson, Kickan, Jonsson, Ann Kristine, Munthe, Christian, Vinnerljung, Bo, Wirtberg, Ingegerd, Östlund, Pernilla, Sundell, Knut
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2020; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: adolescents; Applied Psychology; children; Clinical trials; Economics and Business; Ekonomi och näringsliv; Ethics; Etik; Families & family life; field of practice; Filosofi; Foster care; Foster carers; Foster children; foster parent selection; Intervention; literature review; Medical ethics; Medical research; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Meta-analysis; Nursing; Omvårdnad; Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified; Philosophy; population; preservice training; prevention; Quasi-experimental methods; Samhällsvetenskap; Side effects; Social programs; Social Sciences; Social services; Social Work; Socialt arbete; Sociologi; Sociology; Systematic review; Tillämpad psykologi; Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap; preservice training; foster parent selection; field of practice; adolescents; children; foster care; systematic review; literature review; ethics; prevention; population
• ISSN: 1049-7315; 1552-7581; 1552-7581
• DOI: 10.1177/1049731519832101

Objective: Foster family care is associated with adverse short- and long-term consequences for the child. A systematic review was conducted on interventions for foster children and foster careers. Method: A comprehensive search process was used to find eligible interventions evaluated in randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies. The quality of studies was assessed with GRADE, and effects were synthesized using meta-analytic methods. Results: In all, 28 publications of 18 interventions, including 5,357 children, were identified. Only three specific interventions had sufficient confidence of evidence. No study had examined tools for foster parent selection nor had evaluated preservice programs related to outcomes. Discussion: These analyses provide new insights and hope into the field of systematic interventions in foster care. The overall results indicate that it is possible to improve eight outcomes but cannot point out which programs are superior. Ethically, social care organizations should systematically collect knowledge about effects and side effects.