Skip to main content
Log in

Children lost within the foster care system: Can wraparound service strategies improve placement outcomes?

Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The proportion of children with emotional and behavioral disturbances within the foster care system in the United States is continuing to increase. Many of these children experience numerous placement changes each year, often into extremely restrictive settings. The Fostering Individualized Assistance Program (FIAP) study examined the feasibility of applying a wraparound strategy to these children and their foster, biological and/or adoptive families. This FIAP wraparound strategy paralleled the foster care system and involved the clinical case management of a broad range of individually tailored services, driven by a wraparound team of adult key players in each child's life. This was a controlled study which involved the random assignment of 132 children (ages 7–15 years) to the FIAP wraparound group or to a group that received usual foster care services. We provide a description of the FIAP wraparound intervention and findings that support the efficacy of this strategy in improving the placement outcomes for children lost in the foster care system. Discussion focuses on systemic and intervention factors that may be improved upon to strengthen future individualized wraparound processes and evaluation/research efforts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Achenbach, T. M., & Howell, C. T. (1993). Are American children's problems getting worse? A 13-year comparison.Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 1145–1154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-272, 94 Stat. 1 (1980).

  • Bickman, L., Heflinger, C. A., Lambert, E. W., & Summerfelt, W. T. (in press). The Fort Bragg managed care experiment: Short term impact on psychopathology.Journal of Child and Family Studies.

  • Boyd, L. A., Struchen, W. L., & Panacek-Howell, L. J. (1989).A study of the mental health and substance abuse service needs of Florida's foster children: A report to the Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, Florida Mental Health Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burchard, J. D., & Clarke, R. T. (1990). The role of individualized care in a service delivery system for children and adolescents with severely maladjusted behavior.Journal of Mental Health Administration, 17, 48–60.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cauce, A. M., Morgan, C. J., Wagner, M. A., & Moore, E. (1995, March).Effectiveness of intensive case management for homeless adolescents after nine months. Paper presented at the 8th Annual Research Conference: A System of Care for Children's Mental Health: Expanding the Research Base. Tampa, FL.

  • Clark, H. B., Prange, M. E., Lee, B., Boyd, L. A., McDonald, B. A., & Stewart, E. S. (1994). Improving adjustment outcomes for foster children with emotional and behavioral disorders: Early findings from a controlled study on individualized services.Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 2, 207–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, C. S., Peterson, N. L., & Meier, J. H. (1987). Variables associated with disrupted placement in a select sample of abused and neglected children.Child Abuse and Neglect, 11, 75–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham-Howard, M. V. (1994).School-based histories and educational outcomes of children and youth receiving community mental health services through the Texas Children's Mental Health Plan. Final report. Austin, TX: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dollard, N., Evans, M. E., Lubrecht, J., & Schaeffer, D. (1994). The use of flexible service dollars in rural community-based programs for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families.Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 2, 117–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goerge, R. M. (1990). The reunification process in substitute care.Social Service Review, 64, 422–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haggerty, R., Roghman, K., & Pless, I. B. (1975).Child health and the community. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henggeler, S. W., Melton, G. B., Smith, L. A., Schoenwald, M. A., & Hanley, J. H. (1993). Family preservation using multisystemic treatment: Long-term follow-up to a clinical trial with serious juvenile offenders.Journal of Child and Family Studies, 2, 283–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knitzer, J., & Yelton, S. (1990). Collaboration between child welfare and mental health: Both systems must exploit the program possibilities.Public Welfare, 48, 24–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutash, K., Duchnowski, A. J., Meyers, J., & King, B. (in press). Community and a neighborhood based services for youth. In S. Henggeler & A. B. Santos (Eds.)Innovative models of mental health treatment for “difficult to treat” clinical populations. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

  • Landsverk, J., Davis, I., Ganger, W., Newton, R., & Johnson, I. (1995).Impact of child psychosocial functioning on reunification from out-of-home placement. Manuscript submitted for publication.

  • Landsverk, J., Madsen, J., Ganger, W., Chadwick, D., & Litrownik, A. (in press). Mental health problems of foster children in three California counties.Child Abuse and Neglect.

  • Lawder, E. A., Poulin, J. E., & Andrews, R. G. (1986). A study of 185 foster children 5 years after placement.Child Welfare, 65, 241–251.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, B. A., Boyd, L. A., Clark, H. B., & Stewart, E. S. (1995). Recommended individualized wraparound strategies for foster children with emotional/behavioral disturbances and their families.Community Alternatives, 7(2), 63–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scherer, D. G., Brondino, M. J., Henggeler, S. W., Melton, G. B., & Hanley, J. H. (1994). Multisystemic family preservation therapy: Preliminary findings from a study of rural and minority serious adolescent offenders.Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 2, 198–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stokols, D., & Shumaker, S. A. (1982). The psychological context of residential mobility and well-being.Journal of Social Issues, 38, 149–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, H., Henley, C., & Williams, C. W. (1988).A study of changing trends in foster family care in the southeast. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, School of Social Work, The National Child Welfare Leadership Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • VanDenBerg, J. E. (1993). Integration of individualized mental health services into the system of care for children and adolescents.Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 20, 247–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widom, C. S. (1989).Pathways to criminal violence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D., Halfon, N., Scarlata, D., Newacheck, P., & Nessim, S. (1993). Impact of family relocation on children's growth, development, school function, and behavior.Journal of the American Medical Association, 270, 1334–1338.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Clark, H.B., Lee, B., Prange, M.E. et al. Children lost within the foster care system: Can wraparound service strategies improve placement outcomes?. J Child Fam Stud 5, 39–54 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02234677

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02234677

Key Words

Navigation