This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/
This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/
Child Welfare Outcomes: Permanency and child/family well-being.
Type of Maltreatment: Emotional abuse, Exposure to domestic violence, Physical abuse, Physical neglect, and Sexual abuse
Target Population: Boys and girls, 12-18 years old with severe delinquency and/or severe emotional and behavioral disorders. These youth were in need of out-of-home placement and could not be adequately served in lower levels of care.
Brief Description:
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) has been rated by the CEBC in the area of Placement Stabilization. MTFC is a model of treatment foster care for children 12-18 years old with severe emotional and behavioral disorders and/or severe delinquency. MTFC aims to create opportunities for youths to successfully live in families rather than in group or institutional settings, and to simultaneously prepare their parents (or other long-term placement) to provide youth with effective parenting. Four key elements of treatment are (1) providing youths with a consistent reinforcing environment where he or she is mentored and encouraged to develop academic and positive living skills, (2) providing daily structure with clear expectations and limits, with well-specified consequences delivered in a teaching-oriented manner, (3) providing close supervision of youths' whereabouts, and (4) helping youth to avoid deviant peer associations while providing them with the support and assistance needed to establish pro-social peer relationships.
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FOUR KEY COMPONENTS
OTHER COMPONENTS INCLUDE:
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) was designed to be conducted in a group.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) has not been tested for use in a group setting.
The recommended group size is: One component of the foster parent support is designed to be delivered in a group format. The recommended group size is 10 or fewer foster parents.
Recommended intensity: For foster parent(s), there is typically a minimum of seven contacts per week which consist of five 10-minute contacts, one two-hour group and additional contacts based on the amount of support or consultation required. For the youth in treatment, two contacts per week which consist of a weekly individual therapy for one hour and weekly individual skills training in a two-hour session. For the biological family or other long-term placement resource, one contact per week in the form of a one-hour family therapy session.
Recommended duration: Designed with an overall treatment duration of 6-9 months.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) includes a homework component.
Description: Biological (or other long-term placement resource) parents are guided in practicing parenting skills outside of the sessions during visits with the child in foster care and with other children living in the home.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) is typically conducted in a(n): Birth Family Home, Community Agency, Foster Home, Outpatient Clinic, and School.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) was designed with a Parent Component.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms: Has a child in the foster care system.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) was designed with a Child Component.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms: Hyperactivity, delinquency, school failure, history of abuse, depressive symptoms, aggression, anxiety, defiance, stealing, social aggression, and general anti-social behavior.
Age range(s): 12-18
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) was not developed for children with developmental delays.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) has not been tested for children with developmental delays.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) was not designed for specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.
Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) was not tested in specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.
There is a manual that describes how to implement this program.
There is training available for Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC).
Training contact: TFC Consultants, Inc. Gerard Bouwman, President, 1163 Olive Street , Eugene, OR 97401 541-343-2388
Number of days/hours: 5 days for a total of 40 hours
Training is obtained: It is conducted in Eugene, Oregon.
There currently are not additional qualified resources for training.
The typical resources for implementing Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) are: Office space for a team of approximately 6-8 people: Program Supervisor, Recruiter/Trainer/Parent Daily Report Checklist Caller, Family Therapist, Individual Therapist, and 2-3 Skills Trainers/Playgroup Assistants/Playgroup Leader; 1-2 treatment rooms with video recording; Conference room with video recording; Internet access for Program Supervisor, FP (Foster Parent) Consultant, and Recruiter/Trainer/Parent Daily Report caller.
Program supervisor: In addition to a Master’s degree in a clinical field and considerable relevant experience in behavior management approaches, this person should possess supervisory skills, considerable organizational abilities, and a thorough understanding of and enthusiastic attitude toward the treatment model.
Family therapist: Master’s degree in a clinical field. Individual Therapist: Master’s degree in a clinical field.
Skills trainer(s): Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
Foster parent Recruiter/Trainer/PDR Caller: This important position should be filled by someone with a thorough understanding of the treatment model and experience in foster parent activities. The specific education level for this position is less important. This position can be filled an experienced (ex-) foster parent.
Chamberlain, P., & Reid, J. B. (1991). Using a specialized foster care treatment model for children and adolescents leaving the state mental hospital. Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 266-276.
Application of Specialized Foster Care (SFC) in a randomized controlled study with youth (9-18 years) leaving the State Mental Hospital (n=20). Control group youths were placed in residential treatment centers, parents/relatives' homes or in further hospitalization. Control group received milieu therapy and, in some cases, individual therapy. Experimental group members were placed in the community more quickly and for more days and had fewer behavioral problems at three months out than those in the control condition. However, experimental group participants reported more emotional distress during the duration of the study.
Chamberlain, P., & Reid, J. (1998). Comparison of two community alternatives to incarceration for chronic juvenile offenders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 6(4), 624-633.
79 boys aged 12-17 years were randomly assigned to either the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) program or Group Care (GC). MTFC boys lived with foster parents trained in the use of the program. Results of this study indicate that participation in MTFC produced more favorable outcomes than participation in GC. Boys ran away less frequently from MTFC than from GC, completed their programs more often, and were locked up in detention or training schools less frequently. MTFC boys had fewer criminal referrals than boys in GC from the time they were placed through the year after discharge from the programs. They also reported that they committed fewer delinquent acts and fewer violent or serious crimes. Finally, they spent more days living with their families in follow up. These differences held even among older youths and those who began exhibiting delinquent behaviors at a younger age-groups which have been shown to be less likely to show benefits.
Chamberlain, P., & Moore, K. J. (1998). A clinical model of parenting juvenile offenders: A comparison of group versus family care. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 3(3), 375-386.
Treatment foster care, an intervention model that offers an alternative to group residential care for serious chronic juvenile offenders, was described along with a study comparing outcomes for 39 boys who participated in Treatment Foster Care (TFC) and 40 in group care (GC) placements (aged 12-17 yrs). The TFC approach has been shown to be effective in working with children with aggression and antisocial behavior problems. In TFC, community families were recruited and trained to provide placements for study boys. One boy was placed per home. GC boys were placed with 6-15 others with similar delinquency problems. For boys in both conditions, they and their adult caretakers participated in an assessment 3 months after initial placement, designed to evaluate key treatment process variables thought to predict later outcomes: the extent to which the boy was well supervised, the level of consistent discipline he received, the extent to which he associated with delinquent peers, and the quality of the boy's relationship with his adult caretaker. Results on outcomes were also presented: subsequent arrests, program completion rates, rates of running away from placement and number of days incarcerated in follow-up.
Eddy, J. M., & Chamberlain, P. (2000). Family management and deviant peer association as mediators of the impact of treatment condition on youth antisocial behavior. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 5(68), 857-863.
Same sample as above. An explanatory study to explore mediators for the effectiveness of the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) program over Group Care (GC) programs. Parenting practices (supervision, discipline, positive reinforcement and positive interactions with parents) and limiting association with delinquent peers mediated the effects of program type on outcomes.
Eddy, M. J., Bridges Whaley, R., & Chamberlain, P. (2004). The prevention of violent behavior by chronic and serious male juvenile offenders: A 2-year follow-up of a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Family Psychology, 12(1), 2-8.
Same sample as first two studies above. 79 boys were assessed for arrests for violent behavior and self-reported criminal behavior at 2 years after the initial intervention. Boys in Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) had fewer violent offenses and self-reported fewer overall criminal activity in follow-up than did boys in the Group Care control condition.
Leve, L. D., Chamberlain, P., & Reid, J.B. (2005). Intervention outcomes for girls referred from juvenile justice: Effects on delinquency. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(6), 1181-1185.
Randomized control study (n=81) comparing girls 13-17 in Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) versus Group Care (GC) programs. Group care participants received some behavioral (70%), eclectic (26%) or family-style (4%) therapy. Girls in MTFC had fewer arrests, were incarcerated for fewer days and had lower scores on delinquency than girls in the control condition.
Leve, L. D., & Chamberlain, P. (2005). Association with delinquent peers: Intervention effects for youth in out-of-home care. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33(3), 339-347.
Examined data from two randomized intervention trials (one male sample and one female sample) with delinquent adolescents placed either in Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) or in group care. Path analyses suggested that the MTFC youth had fewer associations with delinquent peers at 12 months than did the group care youth. Further, associating with delinquent peers during the course of the intervention mediated the relationship between group condition and 12-month delinquent peer association. Implications for the development of interventions with delinquent youth are discussed.
Chamberlain, P; Leve, LD.; DeGarmo, DS. (2007). Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care for Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: 2-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(1), 187-193.
Same sample as above. At 2-year follow-up girls in Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) continued to show less delinquency (arrests, # of days incarcerated) than girls in the group care control condition.
Chamberlain, P. (1994). Family connections. Eugene, OR: Northwest Media, Inc.
Chamberlain, P., & Mihalic, S.F. (1998). Multidimensional treatment foster care: Blueprints for Violence Prevention, Book Eight. Blueprints for Violence Prevention Series (D.S. Elliott, Series Editor). Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado.
Chamberlain, P. (2003). Treating chronic juvenile offenders: Advances made through the Oregon multidimensional treatment foster care model. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
Contact name: Patricia Chamberlain
Affiliation/Agency: Center for Research to Practice/ Oregon Social Learning Center
Email: pattic@oslc.org
Phone: 541-485-2711
Fax: 541-485-7087
Website: http://www.mtfc.com