Foster Care

Children develop in the context of relationships. When there are threats to children’s relationships with primary caregivers, such as maltreatment, parent psychopathology, or disruptions in care, children’s healthy development is compromised. Given that children placed in foster care are exposed to a number of these challenges, they are especially at risk for problems across developmental domains, which can have impacts throughout the life span. A number of evidence-based prevention and intervention programs aim to ameliorate the lasting effects of these stressors by cultivating strong relationships between foster parents and the children they care for. This entry describes how placement in foster care challenges children from an attachment theory perspective, provides an overview of developmental consequences of foster care placement, and presents intervention models that aim ...