Displaying 1 - 10 of 36
Significance
There is evidence that the cognitive abilities of children who experience early, severe psychosocial deprivation are superior for those in family- versus group-based placements. However, it is unknown whether these placements have long-lasting effects. Using data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, we found that individuals randomized to foster care following early institutionalization had IQ scores in early adulthood that were, on average, 9.00 points above those of individuals assigned to care as usual. The persistence of causal effects of foster care…
This study examined longitudinal data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized controlled trial of foster care as an alternative to institutional care following exposure to severe psychosocial deprivation. The authors report data from 135 participants assessed in early adulthood (age 18 y). They found that 16 years after randomization occurred, those who had been randomized to high-quality foster care had significantly higher IQ scores (9 points, 0.6 SD) than those randomized to care as usual.
Mediation analyses provide evidence that the causal effect of the intervention…
Following the onset of the crisis in Ukraine and due to the significant care issues affecting children impacted by the conflict and displacement, the Global Collaborative Platform supported by the Better Care Network established a temporary global inter-agency group focused on children’s care in the context of the Ukraine crisis – the Ukraine Children’s Care group. The group is convened by members of the Global Collaborative Platform with the purpose of facilitating practical coordination and collaboration amongst development and humanitarian care actors supporting or operating in Ukraine and…
Abstract
Background
Children reared in institutions experience profound deprivation that is linked to impairments in social communication (SC). However, little is known about the long‐term consequences of institutional rearing on SC through adolescence, and how SC deficits relate to broad‐spectrum psychopathology. It is also unclear whether early removal from deprivation and placement into socially enriched environments remediates these difficulties.
Methods
Children reared in Romanian institutions from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project were randomly assigned to care as…
Abstract
Personal motivation is a key factor in the service of foster care, impending both on the welfare of the child and on the satisfaction of the carer. This paper explores the benefits, challenges and dilemmas involved in the job of professional (i.e. state-supported) foster carer in Romania–a country where the issue of child protection has drawn a great deal of international attention over the last thirty years. The principal hypothesis concerns whether the benefits, challenges and dilemmas identified by foster carers are…
Abstract
This article explores how the type of placement in children's social care influences identity formation and contact with the birth family. It draws on 40 life history interviews with Romanian-born, care experienced young people who entered adulthood from different types of placement: 16 from residential care, eight from foster care, seven from domestic adoption and nine from intercountry adoption. The article contributes to an understanding of how residential care, foster care, domestic adoption and intercountry adoption affect identity formation and contact with the birth family…
Abstract
Exposure to early psychosocial deprivation as a result of institutional care disrupts typical brain development. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) is the first longitudinal study to investigate the neurodevelopment of institutionalized infants randomized to a foster care (FCG) intervention versus care as usual (CAUG). Here, we present findings from a follow‐up assessment of brain electrical activity as indexed by resting EEG at age 16 years. In addition, we examined the effects of disruption of foster care placement, (e.g. the number of moves among foster care…
Abstract
This article is written as part of the FORUM project (FOR Unaccompanied Minors: transfer of knowledge for professionals to increase foster care), an EU funded project which sought to enhance the capacity of professionals to provide quality foster care for unaccompanied migrant children, primarily through the transfer of knowledge. The article aims to contribute to this transfer of knowledge by bringing together literature which is of relevance to professionals developing or enhancing foster care services for unaccompanied migrant children (such as social workers), other…
Objective Children exposed to institutional rearing often exhibit problems across a broad array of developmental domains. We compared the consequences of long-term high-quality foster care versus standard institution-based care which began in early childhood on cardiometabolic and immune markers assessed at the time of adolescence.
Methods The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is a longitudinal investigation of children institutionalized during early childhood (ages 6 to 30 months at baseline) who were subsequently randomized to either high-…
Significance
UNICEF estimates that there are approximately 8 million children worldwide who live in institutions. Institutional rearing often involves severe psychosocial neglect associated with suboptimal brain and behavioral development. This study uses data from the only existing longitudinal RCT of foster care for institutionally reared children to examine trajectories of memory and executive functioning from childhood to adolescence. We show that institutional rearing is associated with persistent problems in certain functional domains, and developmental stagnancy in others, across…