EVALUATION OF A TRAINING PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO ASSIST FOSTER PARENTS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOUR

Child behaviour problems are a major contributory factor in the unplanned termination of placements for children looked after. Reducing placement breakdown is a major target within the Government's Quality Protects Initiative. This project explored the effectiveness of equipping foster carers with expertise in cognitive-behavioural principles and management strategies in reducing or slowing down the rate of placement breakdown. The project was supported by the Centre for Evidence-Based Social Services, a collaboration of 16 local authorities in the South West, in partnership with the Department of Health.

Children in foster care often experience many moves, often as a result of behaviour that their foster carers find difficult to manage. With each placement breakdown, children experience more rejection and can develop ever more defensive ways of managing an unpredictable world. This study was designed to find out whether training foster-carers in methods designed to help people better to manage challenging behaviour would have benefits for looked after children and foster-carers. Foster carers were randomised (by a method like the toss of a coin) to a group where they were taught cognitive-behavioural techniques, or to a 'waiting list' group. The plan was to provide the training to those on the waiting list, if it proved to be effective.

Participants in the training group scored significantly higher in terms of their knowledge of behavioural principles as applied to children, compared to their colleagues in the control group. However, we found no statistically significant difference in their behaviour management skills, the frequency and severity of behaviour problems, or numbers of unplanned placement breakdowns.

Those trained in cognitive-behavioural methods reported increased confidence in their ability to deal with difficult behaviour (based on qualitative data) and a high level of satisfaction for the training. The published paper discusses possible reasons for the findings.