Intervening with foster infants' caregivers: Targeting three critical needs

This article presents the theoretical and empirical rationale for an intervention that targets three critical needs of infants and young children in foster care. First, foster children tend to give behavioral signals that lead even nurturing caregivers to provide non-nurturing care. Foster parents, therefore, need services that help them to reinterpret children's behavioral signals. Second, some caregivers are not comfortable providing nurturance. When surrogate caregivers do not provide nurturance to foster children, their children are at risk for a range of problematic outcomes. The second intervention component, therefore, targets caregiver difficulties in providing nurturance. Third, foster children are at risk for behavioral and biobehavioral dysregulation as the result of disrupted relationships with previous caregivers. The final intervention component helps caregivers provide children with a predictable interpersonal environment such that children develop better regulatory capabilities.