EIFC: Outcomes Through Middle Childhood
(PI: Fisher)
National Institute of Mental Health

This research evaluates the Early Intervention Foster Care Program (EIFC), a preventive intervention designed to address the needs of preschool-aged foster children and their caregivers. At the completion of the first 5 years of funding, this project has collected data on 177 children and their caregivers (117 children randomly assigned to the EIFC or regular foster care conditions; 60 nonmaltreated low-income community children) over a 24-month assessment protocol. Analyses of data to date support the efficacy of the intervention and confirm the conceptual model that has guided the investigation in a number of areas. Of particular note, EIFC increases the use of positive parenting strategies by caregivers, improves subsequent placement outcomes (e.g., stable reunifications with birth families and adoptions), reduces problem behavior, and positively impacts a number of other domains of child functioning (preschool–first grade years). These outcomes indicate that, with the support of well-trained and supervised foster parents, significant risk reduction among foster preschoolers is possible. However, the ongoing risks faced by children who enter foster care at an early age are considerable, and it is unclear whether the gains we have observed among children in the intervention group will be sustained. This study allows us to follow the sample into middle childhood and to test the sustainability of outcomes across five domains: psychosocial adjustment, school performance, functioning of specific stress regulatory neural systems, service utilization, and long-term placement outcomes. We will also examine the mechanisms that might mediate the range of positive or negative outcomes in the group (e.g., parenting practices and intervention dosage/adherence). Finally, we will conduct an economic evaluation to examine how the benefits of the program compare to the costs. This study will provide critical evaluation information about the effectiveness of the EIFC intervention which is the first step to moving research into practice.