Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 1–16 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1359104514547597 ccp.sagepub.com Clinical competencies for the effective treatment of foster children Karen Zilberstein 1,2 and Sally Popper 1,3 1 A Home Within, USA 2 Smith College School for Social Work, USA 3 Treehouse Foundation, USA Abstract Despite a high level of documented mental health needs among children who have experienced foster care, research indicates that treatment outcomes are often disappointing. In order to improve outcomes, evidence-based treatments for attachment, trauma and behavioral difficulties are often promoted for this population. However, little research exists on whether or not those interventions effectively address the unique and complex mental health needs of many foster children. While a rather robust literature exists on foster children’s multifaceted difficulties, most treatments do not fully represent that range and complexity in their interventions. This article attempts to begin to fill that gap by outlining the knowledge and skills clinicians must acquire if they are to effectively treat foster children. Treatment of foster children should be seen as a subspecialty within the field of child mental health, and trainings that help clinicians gain more knowledge of foster children’s unique needs should be more available. Keywords Foster children, evidence-based treatment, comprehensive evaluation, mental health, advocacy Introduction Although foster children use mental health services at relatively high rates, many children in care receive no services or services considered inappropriate or inadequate to their needs (Bellamy, Goplan, & Traube, 2010; Cantos & Gries, 2010; Kerker & Dore, 2006; Oppenheim, Lee, Lichenstein, Bledsoe, & Fisher, 2012). In a recent survey on the experiences of adoptive families with the mental health system (many of whom had adopted foster children), only 27% of parents and 14% of adopted persons believed the professionals with whom they worked were adoption- competent. Furthermore, some felt that this lack of knowledge caused damage to their families (C.A.S.E., 2012 reported in Brodzinsky, 2013). This is a startling finding because over 400,000 children lived in foster care in the United States in 2011 (US Department of Health and Human Corresponding author: Karen Zilberstein, 8 Trumbull Rd #205, Northampton, MA 01060, USA. Email: ekaren@me.com 547597CCP 0 0 10.1177/1359104514547597Clinical Child Psychology and PsychiatryZilberstein and Popper research-article 2014 Article by guest on August 30, 2014 ccp.sagepub.com Downloaded from