Evidence-Based Practice in Foster Parent Training and Support ...

EBP in Foster Parent Training and Support• Foster parents express desire to be involved in the service planning for children intheir care. Involvement in planning and professionalization is linked to increasedfoster parent satisfaction and retention. Several specific models of foster parentinvolvement with biological parents have been developed. These models mayshow promise for their utility in a treatment foster care population.• Several useful models exist for assisting youth step-down from a residentialsetting to less restrictive levels of care, such as treatment foster care. Thesemodels may be altered to assist TFC youth prepare for less restrictive levels ofcare as well, such as reunification with family, traditional foster care situations, oradoption.• Respite care is linked to increases in foster parent satisfaction and retention.Treatment foster care agencies who utilize customer satisfaction surveys toevaluate their respite care services on an ongoing basis as a means of ensuring theprovision of the most effective respite services for treatment foster parents maysee increases in treatment foster provider satisfaction and retention.• Social support is highly beneficial to traditional and treatment foster careproviders. Social support of foster parents is linked to greater foster parentsatisfaction and resources, as well as improved child behavior. The relationshipbetween the social worker and foster family is key to increasing the satisfactionand retention of foster parents. Foster parents indicate the need for an open,positive, supportive relationship with the worker. Treatment foster parents may bebenefited by increased collaboration with agency workers and by the developmentCenter for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW)University of Minnesota School of Social WorkContact: Kristine N. Piescher, Ph.D. kpiesche@umn.edu 118