Placement Stabilization Programs are defined by the CEBC as programs that aim to reduce the number and frequency of disrupted out-of-home placements. Services that seek to keep placements intact include those focused on enhancing the caregiver's sense of competency in parenting the child including dealing with difficult behaviors, encouraging positive caregiver-child interactions, helping the caregiver develop proactive and reactive responses that reinforce positive behaviors, and providing a safe and nurturing environment for the child. Goals for some programs may also include stabilizing placements for large sibling groups to keep siblings together.
Downloadable Topic Area Summary
Placement Stabilization Programs are defined by the CEBC as programs that aim to reduce the number and frequency of disrupted out-of-home placements. Services that seek to keep placements intact include those focused on enhancing the caregiver's sense of competency in parenting the child including dealing with difficult behaviors, encouraging positive caregiver-child interactions, helping the caregiver develop proactive and reactive responses that reinforce positive behaviors, and providing a safe and nurturing environment for the child. Goals for some programs may also include stabilizing placements for large sibling groups to keep siblings together.
Downloadable Topic Area Summary
Boys and girls, 12-17 years old, with severe delinquency and/or severe emotional and behavioral disorders who were in need of out-of-home placement and could not be adequately served in lower levels of care, and their caregivers
Preadolescent children (ages 9-11) who have current or previous child welfare involvement due to one or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
Informal and formal kinship families, relatives, and nonrelatives raising children who are not being raised by parents
Preschool foster children aged 3-6 years old who exhibit a high level of disruptive and antisocial behavior which cannot be maintained in regular foster care, or who may be considered for residential treatment, and their caregivers
Children who are abused/neglected and their family groups
Children and adolescents ages 5-18 years of age (allowable up to age 21 with approval) with high behavioral health needs requiring an out-of-home placement, and their caregivers
Caregivers of children 4 to 12 years of age in foster or kinship care placements
Caregivers of youth 10 to 18 years of age in foster or kinship care placements and the youth themselves
Sibling groups of 2 or more children from infancy through seventeen years of age who are in the custody of the state; youth older than 14 must be part of a sibling group; ideally children and families newly involved in the foster care system or possibly have re-entered the foster care system due to disrupted adoptions or have transferred from another agency
Designed for children and youth with severe emotional, behavioral, or mental health difficulties and their families where the child/youth is in, or at risk for, out-of-home, institutional, or restrictive placements, and involved in multiple child and family-serving systems (e.g., child welfare, mental health, juvenile justice, special education, etc.)
Prospective and current parents who are, or will be, raising older children from foster care (ages 10 or older) who have moderate to severe emotional and behavioral challenges that require intensive coordinated services to prevent restrictive or congregate placements
Children, adolescents, and foster families
Prospective foster and adoptive parents and experienced foster parents; child welfare professionals who develop, support, and team with resource parents
Boys and girls, 12-17 years old, with severe delinquency and/or severe emotional and behavioral disorders who were in need of out-of-home placement and could not be adequately served in lower levels of care, and their caregivers
Preadolescent children (ages 9-11) who have current or previous child welfare involvement due to one or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
Informal and formal kinship families, relatives, and nonrelatives raising children who are not being raised by parents
Preschool foster children aged 3-6 years old who exhibit a high level of disruptive and antisocial behavior which cannot be maintained in regular foster care, or who may be considered for residential treatment, and their caregivers
Children who are abused/neglected and their family groups
Children and adolescents ages 5-18 years of age (allowable up to age 21 with approval) with high behavioral health needs requiring an out-of-home placement, and their caregivers
Caregivers of children 4 to 12 years of age in foster or kinship care placements
Caregivers of youth 10 to 18 years of age in foster or kinship care placements and the youth themselves
Sibling groups of 2 or more children from infancy through seventeen years of age who are in the custody of the state; youth older than 14 must be part of a sibling group; ideally children and families newly involved in the foster care system or possibly have re-entered the foster care system due to disrupted adoptions or have transferred from another agency
Designed for children and youth with severe emotional, behavioral, or mental health difficulties and their families where the child/youth is in, or at risk for, out-of-home, institutional, or restrictive placements, and involved in multiple child and family-serving systems (e.g., child welfare, mental health, juvenile justice, special education, etc.)
Prospective and current parents who are, or will be, raising older children from foster care (ages 10 or older) who have moderate to severe emotional and behavioral challenges that require intensive coordinated services to prevent restrictive or congregate placements
Children, adolescents, and foster families
Prospective foster and adoptive parents and experienced foster parents; child welfare professionals who develop, support, and team with resource parents
The Placement Stabilization Programs topic area is relevant to child welfare because limiting the number of placement changes for children in child welfare is beneficial to their well-being. There is an increasing body of knowledge on the impact of trauma on the brain development of children, especially on young children. Foster children are likely to have experienced trauma in-utero, and after birth through exposure to abuse, neglect, and violence. Removal of a child from an unsafe home reduces the risk of further abuse and neglect, but at a cost. Every placement change requires a child to adapt to a new environment at home, in school, and in the most personal relationships: new caregiver, new room, new roommate, new teacher, new foods, new rules, new doctor, new friends, etc. Children cope in various ways, including exacerbating troublesome and unhealthy behaviors. Academic development is interrupted, social relationships are severed, and new barriers to reunification can develop. These disruptive behaviors are linked to placement instability, and contribute to reduced chance of reunification.
Mary C. Harris
Former CEBC Advisory Committee Member
The Placement Stabilization Programs topic area is relevant to child welfare because limiting the number of placement changes for children in child welfare is beneficial to their well-being. There is an increasing body of knowledge on the impact of trauma on the brain development of children, especially on young children. Foster children are likely to have experienced trauma in-utero, and after birth through exposure to abuse, neglect, and violence. Removal of a child from an unsafe home reduces the risk of further abuse and neglect, but at a cost. Every placement change requires a child to adapt to a new environment at home, in school, and in the most personal relationships: new caregiver, new room, new roommate, new teacher, new foods, new rules, new doctor, new friends, etc. Children cope in various ways, including exacerbating troublesome and unhealthy behaviors. Academic development is interrupted, social relationships are severed, and new barriers to reunification can develop. These disruptive behaviors are linked to placement instability, and contribute to reduced chance of reunification.
Mary C. Harris
Former CEBC Advisory Committee Member
The Placement Stabilization Programs topic area was added in 2007. Sonya Leathers, PhD was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2007 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC) or others loaded earlier and added to this topic area when it launched. The topic area has grown over the years and any programs added since 2007 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Leathers was not involved in identifying or rating them.
The Placement Stabilization Programs topic area was added in 2007. Sonya Leathers, PhD was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2007 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC) or others loaded earlier and added to this topic area when it launched. The topic area has grown over the years and any programs added since 2007 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Leathers was not involved in identifying or rating them.
