Engelska nyheter Collaboration Published: October 23, 2026

Interventions to strengthen foster family care

Certain interventions to strengthen foster family care may have positive effects for children in care. Promising results include improved mental health and attachment security, as well as reduced serious behavior problems, such as fewer days spent in locked units.

After reviewing the scientific literature, SBU has drawn the following conclusions:

Attachment-focused parenting programs may reduce attachment insecurity for children in foster family care.

  • Treatment foster care for adolescents – more specifically Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) – may lead to fewer days in a locked ward, reduce substance use, and improve the mental health of adolescents with serious behavior problems.
  • The results also indicate that:
    • behavior-focused parenting programs may reduce externalizing symptoms of children in foster family care.
    • education-focused tutoring and mentoring programs may improve the reading ability of children in foster family care.
    • treatment foster care for adolescents (TFCO) may reduce deliquency of adolescents with serious behavior problems.
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