Supporting LGBTQIA+ youth in foster care: Considerations for FosterCARE training

ABSTRACT

FosterCARE training is a behaviorally based, empirically supported program developed to provide foster parents with skills for interacting effectively with youth (aged 2–18) with trauma histories. In this paper, we suggest that the trauma-informed skills, wide age range, and focus on parent–child interactions inherent within the FosterCARE model could provide a promising foundation to serve LGBTQIA+ foster youth and their families. This article describes potential additions to the FosterCARE model and provides the rationale for the use of a FosterCARE-LGBTQIA+ module. Recommendations for the future pilot testing of the FosterCARE LGBTQIA+ module using an evidence-based framework are included, with limitations discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Foster parents
• pre-service training
• LGBTQIA+ youth
• parent management training
• prevention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In the following discussion, variations of the LGBTQIA+ acronym are applied based on the research population identified.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Lindsay Richey

Lindsay Richey, received her MS in clinical psychology at Auburn University. She is currently a clinical psychology PhD student at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. Her areas of professional interest include evidenced-based parent management trainings and dissemination and implementation of evidenced-based trainings in the child welfare system.

Elizabeth Brestan-Knight

Elizabeth Brestan-Knight, received her PhD in clinical and health psychology at the University of Florida. After completing an internship in pediatric psychology at the University of Miami’s School of Medicine, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Brestan-Knight is currently the Alma Holladay Endowed Professor of Psychology at Auburn University. Her research and clinical interests include the dissemination and implementation of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to front-line mental health therapists at the national and international level.

Robin H. Gurwitch

Robin Gurwitch, received her PhD in clinical/medical psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She completed her internship in pediatric psychology at the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. Gurwitch completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. She is a professor in the Duke University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and is the Director of the PCIT & CARE Training Program at the Center for Child & Family Health. Her research interests include improving outcomes for children who have experienced trauma, including assessment of a trauma module for PCIT. As a co-developer of CARE, Gurwitch is interested in the implementation, dissemination, and adaptations related to this model.