Objective: Foster family care is associated with adverse short- and long-term consequences for the child. A systematic review was conducted on interventions for foster children and foster careers. Method: A comprehensive search process was used to find eligible interventions evaluated in randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies. The quality of studies was assessed with GRADE, and effects were synthesized using meta-analytic methods. Results: In all, 28 publications of 18 interventions, including 5,357 children, were identified. Only three specific interventions had sufficient confidence of evidence. No study had examined tools for foster parent selection nor had evaluated preservice programs related to outcomes. Discussion: These analyses provide new insights and hope into the field of systematic interventions in foster care. The overall results indicate that it is possible to improve eight outcomes but cannot point out which programs are superior. Ethically, social care organizations should systematically collect knowledge about effects and side effects.

Purpose: To examine the effects of Treatment Foster Care on youth with serious behavior problems. Method: Included studies are controlled trials with high or medium quality, published between 1990 and September 2017. The control group consists of youth with serious behavior problems in group care, and the follow-up time was at least 12 months. The review also examines ethical and economic aspects. Results: A total of eight controlled studies were included, consisting of 633 young people and 55 effect sizes. All studies examined the same model, Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO). There is moderate certainty of evidence that TFCO reduces the risk of future criminal behavior and the number of days in locked settings. Furthermore, there is low certainty of evidence that TFCO reduces the risk of delinquent peer associations, drug use, and depression. Discussion: TFCO is to be preferred to group care for youth with serious behavior problems. Ethical and economic implications are discussed.