Foster Care

The aim of this study was to examine the predictive links between foster infants' initial attachment behaviors upon placement with a foster family and their later, consolidated attachment behaviors. Twenty-four foster infants and their foster mothers participated. The mothers completed an attachment diary for 7 days, starting as close as possible to the infant's arrival. The diary yields scores of Security, Avoidance and Resistance, as well as a score of day-to-day instability in attachment behaviors. All foster dyads also completed the Strange Situation, 5 months later on average. The Security, Avoidance and Instability diary scores were found to be lawfully related to the SS behavioral scores. Furthermore, the Instability score discriminated between children who later developed organized versus disorganized attachment patterns. The first weeks into the formation of an attachment relationship with a foster caregiver thus appear to take on special importance for the later quality of this relationship.

All children who enter foster care have experienced disruptions in their relationships with caregivers, and many have experienced maltreatment. Studying the effects of these adverse early experiences can inform developmental theory. In particular, insight can be provided regarding sensitive periods in the development of attachment and selfregulatory capabilities. The quality of surrogate caregivers varies as a function of both the intervention services provided and foster parent characteristics. Studying the effects of foster parent quality can suggest which aspects of child functioning are more or less canalized at various developmental periods. This paper considers salient developmental issues of infancy, preschool years, middle childhood, and adolescence and examines ways in which these issues may present special difficulties for foster children. Across development, foster care is associated with difficulties regulating behaviors, emotions, and physiology. Thus, conditions associated with foster care placement (e.g., disruptions in care, maltreatment) appear to affect very basic and fundamental regulatory processes. Interventions have been designed that target developmentally specific manifestations of regulatory difficulties. Although the literature regarding evidence-based interventions for foster parents is quite limited, preliminary findings provide some evidence that nurturing, responsive care can serve to partially remediate early deficits. These findings suggest that stable and nonfrightening care is essential for normal development. Nonetheless, even in the case of quite adverse early experience that results in problematic child outcomes, there is some evidence that the development of many systems remains relatively plastic.

The majority of research on the psychosocial impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure for children has focused on IPV occurrence. The current study extended this research by examining three dimensions of IPV exposure: frequency, proximity, and severity, and tested whether these dimensions predicted variance in adolescents' psychosocial problems over-andabove that accounted for by IPV occurrence. Participants included 140 adolescents and their caregivers, who were recruited for an intervention involving maltreated youth placed in out-ofhome care. After controlling for IPV occurrence, exposure to community violence, and severity of maltreatment, results indicated a positive association between the multidimensional IPV index and youth report of psychosocial problems. There was also a trend for a positive association between the IPV index and caregiver report of psychosocial problems for boys. The study's results are discussed in terms of their implications for prevention researchers and child welfare agencies.

Health, 2001) is not mentioned and so one or two chapters already seem a little dated. Nonetheless, this is an important and useful contribution to the foster care literature and will be consulted by students, practitioners and academics alike.

Objectives. The objectives of this study were 1) to assess whether there is an independent association between the level of prenatal cocaine exposure and infants' developmental test scores after control of potential confounding variables; and 2) if such an association exists, to determine which biological and social variables, individually and in interaction with each other, may modify it. Methods. In a prospective, longitudinal study of 203 urban term infants, 3 cocaine exposure groups were defined by maternal report and infant meconium assay: unexposed, heavier cocaine exposure (>75th percentile self-reported days of use or meconium benzoylecognine concentration), or lighter cocaine exposure (all others). Examiners, masked to exposure history, tested infants at 6, 12, and 24 months of age with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Results. The final mixed linear regression model included as fixed covariates level of prenatal exposure to cocaine, alcohol, and cigarettes; prenatal marijuana exposure; gestational age and birth weight z score for gestational age; and gender. Age at test, caregiver at time of each test (biological mother, kinship caregiver, unrelated foster caregiver), and any previous child-focused early intervention were included as time-dependent covariates. There were no significant adverse main effects of level of cocaine exposure on Mental Development Index (MDI), Psychomotor Development Index (PDI), or Infant Behavior Record. Child-focused early intervention interacted with level of cocaine exposure such that heavily exposed children who received such intervention showed higher adjusted mean MDI scores than all other groups. Although the sample was born at or near term, there was also a significant interaction of cocaine exposure and gestational age on MDI scores, with those in the heavier exposure group born at slightly lower gestational age having higher mean MDI scores compared with other children born at that gestational age. There was also a significant interaction on MDI between child's age and caregiver. At 6 months, the adjusted MDI of children living with a kinship caregiver was 15.5 points lower than that of children living with their biological mother, but this effect was diminished and was no longer significant at 24 months (difference in means: 4.3 points). The adjusted mean MDI of children in unrelated foster care at 6 months was 8.2 points lower than children of biological mothers, whereas it was 7.3 points higher at 24 months. Early intervention attenuated the age-related decline in PDI scores for all groups. Birth weight <10th percentile was associated with lower PDI scores for children with heavier cocaine exposure and with lower MDI scores for all groups. Conclusions. Heavier prenatal cocaine exposure is not an independent risk factor for depressed scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development up to 24 months of age when term infants are compared with lighter exposed or unexposed infants of the same demographic background. Cocaine-exposed infants with birth weight below the 10th percentile for gestational age and gender and those placed with kinship caregivers are at increased risk for less optimal developmental outcomes. Pediatric clinicians should refer cocaine-exposed children to the child-focused developmental interventions available for all children at developmental risk.

Translated in Dutch by SWP publisher Paul Roosenstein, from:
Rygaard, N.P. (2021): Climate Change, Migration, Urbanization, and the Mental Health of Children at Risk in the European Union -
A Discussion of the Need for Large Scale Interventions
European Psychologist (2021), 26(3), 204–211
2021 Hogrefe Publishing

Several studies have reported large numbers of homeless adults with histories of childhood foster care. 1-5 Others have found that an increased number of homeless parents had children who were placed into foster care.' This study examines the prevalence of adult homelessness among the birth parents of foster children. It also examines whether foster children whose birth parents experienced adulthood homelessness are a special subpopulation of foster children and whether they suffer from more physical, psychological, or social problems than other foster children. Cheryl Zlotnick and Diana Kronstadt are with the Center for the Vulnerable Child at Children's

Foster care Alcohol and drug use Termination of parental rights Using mixed methods, we compared appellate court foster care cases where parents' rights were terminated to those in which decisions to terminate parental rights were reversed or remanded to better understand the experiences of parents struggling with alcohol and drug use. A content analysis of 60 cases was conducted; 30 cases in which parental rights were terminated, and 30 where decisions to terminate parental rights were overturned or remanded to the lower court. Parents whose rights were terminated were more likely to have mental health problems and experienced incarceration. In addition, when a composite score of risk factors was analyzed, parents whose rights were terminated had significantly more risk factors. For both groups, poverty was an equally common risk factor. Implications include universal assessments for alcohol and drug abuse for parents involved in the child welfare system and timely referrals to appropriate treatment. Further, collaboration between mental health providers, substance use treatment programs, and caseworkers to address the integration of potential risk factors may help promote successful outcomes for parents whose children are in foster care.

This paper deals with the contact and relationship youth have with staff while in care and after emancipation and examines the young adults' needs in contacting staff after leaving care. The study was conducted through 60 interviews with young adults ages 21–26 who emancipated from residential settings in Israel. Results showed that most youth report having had a meaningful staff member in care and that 62% were in contact with staff after their transition to independent living for both emotional and practical needs that could not always be answered by staff. One of the study's conclusions is that despite their departure staff's relationship with these young adults continues informally years after. However, without formal recognition of the place staff have in the lives of aged-out youth, no resources are invested in training them to properly meet the young adults' needs. The discussion highlights the need for an integrative approach that sees residential settings and staff as a meaningful part in the continuity from care to independent living by supporting aged-out youth's gradual transition to adult life.

Objective. Although prior populationbased studies have found that children in foster care use more mental health services than their Medicaid peers, less is known about how different experiences in foster care impact the likelihood of mental health service use. The primary aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that instability of foster care placements is associated with higher costs for mental health care services. The secondary aim is to test the hypothesis that foster care children are also more likely to generate high costs for mental health services if they generate higher costs for non-mental health claims.

Previous research has demonstrated that former foster care youth are at risk for poor outcomes (e.g., more problem behaviors, more depression, lower self-esteem, and poor social relationships). It is not clear, however, whether these findings reflect preemancipation developmental deficits. This study used 163 preemancipation foster care youth and a matched sample of 163 comparison youth. Results showed that foster-care youth did not differ from the comparison sample on measures of well-being, including depressed mood, problem behavior, and self-esteem. Foster care youth reported higher levels of work orientation, but lower levels of academic achievement, aspirations, and expectations. In addition, compared to the matched sample, foster care youth perceived better social environments with respect to their important nonparental adults (VIPs) and peers, but poorer social environments relating to their parents. These differences in social environments may have offset each other and resulted in similar levels of psychological well-being for the two groups of youth. Regression analyses further showed that social environments were linked to selected adolescent outcomes, and nonparental VIPs were especially important for the foster care sample.

Individual and ecological research suggests that rising unemployment may affect the incidence of violence through two countervailing mechanisms suggested by frustration-aggression theory. The first, or provocation effect, assumes increased violence among persons who feel anger because they believe their job loss was arbitrary. The second, or inhibition effect, posits less violence among employed persons who attempt to reduce their chances of job loss by curtailing behavior objectionable to employers. The literature also reports that these mechanisms affect victimization measured as foster care sought by the state for abused children. The foster care finding, although consistent with theory and important for basic as well as applied reasons, arises from methods that cannot rule out several rival hypotheses. We revisit this research and apply improved methods to test the reported association in Los Angeles and San Francisco counties. We find that, as implied by the provocation and inh...

When children in foster care are reunified with their families of origin they encounter changes that may influence their well-being in both positive and negative ways. We examined the effects of reunification among 218 children in foster care to test an integrative model of the effects of reunification using structural equation modeling. We hypothesized that reunification would exert indirect effects on subsequent child adjustment via changes in adverse life events, perceived social isolation, and mental health service utilization. Results indicated no direct effect of reunification on subsequent internalizing problems, but reunification was related to increased adverse life events that, in turn, were related to elevated symptoms. Second, reunification was negatively associated with mental health service use. Finally, reunification was associated with decreased child perceptions of social isolation. In summary, reunification with biological parents is associated with multiple environmental changes, with most but not all effects indicating negative consequences.

This paper presents data about the emotional, behavioural and substance abuse disorders of youth in foster care and former recipients of foster care ('alumni') in the USA. The prevalence rates of these groups are compared to those of the youth and young adults in the US general population. The implications of these data for policy and program design are discussed.

The foster care system is not absolved from its role and complicity in the expansion of the shadow carceral state in the U.S. Educational researchers and social scientists alike concerned with the academic, social, and life outcomes and experiences of Black youth in foster care and other racially/ethnically minoritized groups must broaden the aperture in their work to account for the ways which carceral logics permeate the multiply marginalizing structures and systems in which they are positioned.

Foster care alumni experience a number of challenges related to accessing and completing post-secondary education, however little is known about the programs that currently exist in the United States that support this group of students in college. This study sought to build on previous work that calls for the need to develop programs to support foster care alumni in higher education and to obtain a better understanding of the characteristics of existing programs and the perceived programmatic and student challenges as reported by program
directors and staff, faculty, and researchers. Eight-one program directors, staff, and researchers in 22 states participated in an online survey about their perceptions of challenges related to programs supporting foster care alumni in college and challenges students experienced. The survey also elicited information about program and
student characteristics. Results indicate several challenges related to financial support, student engagement, student housing, and helping students manage family and personal issues. This information created the foundation for a discussion about implications for future research, programs, practice, and policy related to foster care alumni in higher education.

On March 16, 1996, the author interviewed her mother, Beth Tillmann, about Beth's parents' divorce and her life as a foster child. From detailed notes taken during this phone conversation and from family stories told to the author throughout her life, the author constructed a narrative titled "A Home of Her Own." Its structure and tone mimic the way her mother speaks about the dissolution of her family of origin and her attachments to and separations from those who tried to help her rebuild a sense of home. After the story is a discussion of what narrative representations of loss offer the writer, the subject, and the reader.

2 RESEARCH PROPOSAL: SIBLINGS VERSES SINGLE CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE INTRODUCTION The achievement gap and overall lack of competence within young adults raised in the foster care system is a widely known and acknowledged problem. These young people as students routinely score lower on standardized testing, have a tendency to fall into legal trouble, and are more likely to face substance abuse. However, there is some evidence that siblings co-placed into homes integrate easier into adulthood than those who are not. My research question: Do siblings in co-placement really fair better in life by comparison than that of onlychildren, and if this is the case, why? There are very few studies published on the outcomes of siblings' verses non-siblings in foster care. This research is vital to the future of the children taken in by CPS. Research shows that without a positive support system in the developmental stages of a person's life, the outcomes for the person are often negative. Young adults without a positive support system face excessive challenges integrating into social settings: occupational, educational, civic engagements, and overall family environments. By allowing this research to be conducted there will be clarity in what is considered a blurry topic in regards to foster care children. If it is found that the theory is true, siblings in co-placement do in fact integrate better into society, than this research would be utilized to support policy changes within Child Protective Services. The policy RESEARCH PROPOSAL: SIBLINGS VERSES SINGLE CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE 3 would specifically protect sibling sets from being separated within the system, unless one sibling would be potentially harmful to keep around another. Also, the policy would encourage foster parents to care for multiple single children at once to provide a possible mimic of a sibling like bond. LITERATURE REVIEW The first source is Siblings in Foster Care: A Relational Path to Resilience for Emancipated Foster Youth. The research question is whether and how sibling co-placements while in foster care support youth's competence in the domains of education, occupation, housing, quality, relationships, and civic engagement. They did qualitative indepth interviews with 170 emancipated foster youth. The theories behind this research were attachment theory and social cognitive theory. The research found that there is a "significant correlation between sibling placement and educational competence, but not occupational competence. However, narrative coherence was related to higher occupational competence and the contribution of sibling coplacement to narrative coherence emerged as a significant indirect path to occupational competence for males" (Richardson and Tuppet, 2014). The major strength for this study would have to be that the researchers preformed extensive face-to-face interviews with an enormous interviewee body. A weakness in this study is that it was not preformed on a random sample population, rather the participants 4 RESEARCH PROPOSAL: SIBLINGS VERSES SINGLE CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE

Kinship care represents 46% of all out-of-home care placements in Spain and 80% of all foster care placements. Therefore, the role of fostering relatives, most of whom (about 70%) are grandparents, is particularly relevant in the Spanish child care system. In 1998 we carried out a descriptive study on profiles of kinship care in Spain, including children, birth parents, fostering relatives and patterns of process and intervention, with a sample of 568 cases. This paper presents a follow-up study of a part of this group who were adults in 2006, aimed at assessing their transition to adulthood. A subset of 143 young adults was eligible for this follow-up study, which consists of a personal interview and questionnaires. We were able to assess a sample of 67 young adults in this way, and collect some relevant information on another 56 cases. The results show that only a small part of the sample present serious problems of social exclusion (9%), whilst 70% have found employment or are in higher education and with a relatively stable life, even though, in general, their jobs are of a low-skilled nature. We also discuss other important aspects, such as the frequent loss (through death) of grandparent foster carers and the lack of help and support from the authorities for their kinship carers perceived by the young people themselves.

As the COVID-19 virus began to spread in the United States of America, states' child welfare administrators and policymakers responded differently. Some states implemented more restrictive policies, some less or did not require many restrictions (i.e., stay at home orders or masking in public spaces). Video-based online focus groups with foster parents in four states utilized a consensual qualitative approach to identify themes relating to foster parenting during COVID-19 and understand how policies related to COVID-19 restrictions affected their caregiving decisions.  Themes that emerged included pathways to foster parenting pre-pandemic, the impact of COVID-19 on both foster parents, children in care, and foster parents' ability to understand the broader importance of their caregiving. While participants in all of the states reported similar experiences relating to the need for resources and support and the challenge of managing both work and remote education for their children,
those in states with restrictive policies were more likely to report pandemic-specific concerns including a lack of agency communication or case progress, the mental health toll on foster children in their care and their concerns about accepting new placements. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Although marriage and family therapists are being called on to help at-risk families, some say that clinicians have insufficient knowledge about the impact of policies on families involved in the foster care system. The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to identify how the Adoption and Safe Families Act informs decision making, to recognize trends in decisions regarding termination of parental rights of parents with mental health issues, and to explore treatment issues of families involved in the foster care system. Results indicate that court cases decided after the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act are likely to result in termination of parental rights. Implications for clinicians and researchers are discussed. Family violence, child maltreatment, poverty, and the child welfare system have led some to call the realities of foster care "the mean streets of family therapy" (Crenshaw & Barnum, 2001, p. 30). Some of the most important judiciary decisions about the futures of families are made in the foster care system (Azar, Benjet, Fuhrmann, & Cavallero, 1995). To assist with these critical decisions, a number of people, such as judges, caseworkers, and families, are looking to family therapists for assistance in addressing the needs of foster care families (Azar, Lauretti, & Loding, 1998). Judges are seeking therapists' opinions about parental competency and are increasingly mandating families to seek treatment specifically from marriage and family therapists (MFTs; Northey, 2004). Caseworkers are obtaining therapists' input about placement decisions and treatment, and parents are searching for help with custody and parenting issues (Azar et al., 1998). Despite the number of ways in which therapists can assist with issues related to foster care, some argue that too few therapists have devoted time to understanding the foster care system, policies, and the implications of such policies on families involved in the foster care system (

This brief explores ways policy levers can be utilized to better support students from foster care who are attending college in the time of COVID-19 by examining three studies and applying lessons learned to federal policy development and implementation.

While the need to provide appropriate mental health services to children in foster care is well recognized, there is little information on administrative barriers to assuring that such services are provided. This article presents results from a national survey of mental health agencies to profile their awareness of currently available practice standards, the roles these standards play in guiding practice of mental health agencies, common reimbursement strategies in use for mental health services, and collaborations between mental health and child welfare agencies that enhance children’s access to appropriate mental health care. Implications and recommendations for mental health policymakers are discussed.

This paper suggests that long-term foster care, especially when it is provided within an American Indian Cultural Environment (AICE), may be a culturally-appropriate alternative form of permanency for American Indian children. Administrative data on foster care placements of children from four California counties over a five-year period indicate that children in the county with the strongest AICE had fewer placements and placements that were, on average, significantly longer. Within counties that had recognized tribes, children from local tribes had longer placements. Data on individual placements were available for one county and indicated that children whose home tribes were within that county and who were placed on Rancherias had significantly longer placements than other children. These relationships remained significant when children's demographic characteristics were controlled. Implications for policy and practice related to ICWA are discussed.

Housing problems present barriers to family unity and reunification among families in the child welfare system, yet few programs address both child welfare and housing needs. To date, the field lacks data for understanding families with dual vulnerabilities in these arenas and the programs that support them. This study aimed to address that gap by reporting the characteristics and outcomes of 1720 families referred to a Supportive Housing for Families (SHF) program over a 10-year period. This report describes client characteristics, progress, and outcomes at discharge. Positive shifts in employment and housing were evident across the entire sample. Clients who completed the program successfully had longer stays, were more likely to have a history of permanent housing and employment, and had higher initial and exit scores on a measure of environment of care. Higher client-staff involvement and service utilization were associated significantly with positive discharge, but not with procurement of permanent housing. This report provides initial endorsement for the SHF model and makes suggestions for program practice, future research, and policy. More research is critical if we are to understand the optimal mechanisms of support and change that lead to child safety and family self-sufficiency.

Although the term attachment disorder is ambiguous, attachment therapies are increasingly used with children who are maltreated, particularly those in foster care or adoptive homes. Some children described as having attachment disorders show extreme disturbances. The needs of these children and their caretakers are real. How to meet their needs is less clear. A number of attachment-based treatment and parenting approaches purport to help children described as attachment disordered. Attachment therapy is a young and diverse field, and the benefits and risks of many treatments remain scientifically undetermined. Controversies have arisen about potentially harmful attachment therapy techniques used by a subset of attachment therapists. In this report, the Task Force reviews the controversy and makes recommendations for assessment, treatment, and practices. The report reflects American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children&#39;s (APSAC) position and also was endorsed by the Amer...

Existing literature suggests that youth with disabilities are known to be at increased risk of maltreatment in the form of abuse and/or neglect.  Little is known, however, about the experiences of youth with disabilities who are living in foster care or who are supervised by child protection authorities.  This study establishes a baseline estimate of the prevalence of youth with disabilities living in foster care, documents reasons for child protection system involvement, identifies placement types while youth are in care and explores case outcomes. This cross-sectional, exploratory study draws on data from the 2012 Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS) for foster youth in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.  A sample of youth with disabilities (N=36,492) and a comparison group without disabilities (N=601,539) were identified. Findings about demographics, reasons for child removal, foster care placements, permanency planning goals and case outcomes are presented. Findings have implications for the prevention the removal of youth from caregivers, the need for family supports to prevent foster care involvement, the promotion of community inclusion of foster youth while in foster care and the need for inter-system collaboration at the transitional age stage.

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o This study compares self-reported readiness to engage in college between a sample of 81 college freshmen who aged out of foster care prior to or while attending a large four-year public university and the national freshman population. Results indicate that students from foster care are significantly different from their non-foster-care peers in their readiness to engage in college. The results also show that foster youth are less well prepared academically upon entering college and this performance gap persists through the first semester of college. These findings are examined in the context of the current literature on foster youth. Limitations of the study and implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The objective of this qualitative research is to better understand the processes that contribute to resilience among adolescents in foster care. Twelve boys and girls (X ¼ 15.9 years), identified as resilient, participated in this study. The mean duration of the teenagers' placement is 7.3 years. The results point to three types of turning points: action, relation and reflection. Four processes, directly or indirectly linked to the turning point, have also been identified: increase in perceived self-efficacy, distancing oneself from the risks, new opportunities, and the multiplication of benefits. r

Alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse by caretakers is frequently cited as a precipitating reason for the entry of children into foster care, however, little research has been done to examine the impact of alcohol and other drugs on the stability of family reunification. This study examined the likelihood of reentry into foster care following reunification for children whose primary caretakers were stratified into groups based on the type of substance abuse cited as a primary reason for the initial removal: those with alcohol only involvement, those with drug only involvement, those with both alcohol and other drug involvement, and those with no alcohol or drug involvement. Event history analysis showed that children whose reasons for initial placement in foster included caretakers with both alcohol and drug involvement were much more likely to reenter care following reunification than any of the other three groups. However, drug or alcohol involvement as the initial reason for removal was also associated with higher risk of reentry. provide reviews of existing literature on child maltreatment recurrence.

Contemporary models of family adjustment, namely the goodness of fit model and the organizational ecology conceptual frameworks, are limited in their application to the complexities of family foster care. However, the family adjustment and adaptation response (FAAR) model exists as a viable model for research and clinical applications in family foster care. In this article we discuss the FAAR model's relative advantages in understanding family foster placement and review available studies based on specific FAAR model components. Working with foster families using the FAAR model is described. We conclude by discussing research and practice implications derived from family foster placement research based on a FAAR conceptual framework. Finally, a case example involving application of the FAAR model is offered.

This article examines the impact of the Children Act 1908 on longstanding concerns that foster or informally 'adoptive' parents were uniquely likely to murder the children in their care. Making particular reference to the last two high-profile cases of 'baby-farmers' tried for homicide on the Welsh and English Assize circuits (in 1907 and 1919, respectively) it argues that the infant life protection provisions in the 1908 Act had a dramatic and immediate impact on such prosecutions, removing the automatic presumption of malice in cases where fostered or adopted children died in suspicious circumstances.

This exploratory study examines the implementation of campus support programs designed to provide financial, academic, and other types of supports to students who had aged out of foster care. Data were collected from program administrators and student participants in California and Washington State. Telephone interviews were conducted with 10 campus support program administrators that covered a variety of domains. Student participants from 8 of the 10 programs completed a web-based survey that asked about their perceptions of and experiences with the program. Recommendations for moving forward with a methodologically sound impact evaluation of campus support programs are discussed.

A substantial body of evidence suggests that young people leaving public care systems are at increased risk for low educational attainment, unemployment, homelessness, physical and mental health difficulties, dependency on public assistance, and involvement with the criminal justice system. Independent living programs (ILPs), which incorporate life skills and personal development, are one strategy frequently used to improve outcomes for young people leaving care. However, the effectiveness of ILPs remains unknown. This paper systematically reviews the current evidence for ILPs, summarizing all controlled comparisons designed to evaluate their effectiveness. Reviewers were unable to find any randomized controlled trial evaluating ILPs, but the results of eight non-randomized controlled studies suggest that some ILPs may have protective effects for youth leaving the public care system. These trends were observed for outcomes related to educational attainment, employment, housing, health, and other life skills; nevertheless, the weak methodological quality of the evidence tempers the validity and generalizability of these conclusions. Further research utilizing random assignment of participants is imperative in order to draw reliable conclusions for policy and practice.