Therapeutic Foster Care: For Chronically Delinquent Adolescents

Task Force Finding*

In program-intensive therapeutic foster care, juveniles (aged 12 to 18 years) determined to be chronically delinquent were placed in foster homes and systematically isolated from their delinquent peers. Program personnel worked closely with the foster parents and others in the participant’s environment (e.g., teachers) to train and support them in providing an environment structured for social and emotional learning.

The Task Force finds sufficient evidence to recommend use of this intervention: violent outcomes among juveniles in therapeutic foster care were reduced by a median of 72% compared with juveniles in group homes. This intervention was only evaluated in one setting, and applicability cannot necessarily be extended to other settings.

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Recommendations to reduce violence through early childhood home visitation, therapeutic foster care, and firearms laws. [PDF - 71KB] Am J Prev Med 2005;28(2S1):6-10.

Review completed: June 2002