A New Model of Foster Care forYoung Children:The Bucharest Early Intervention Project Anna T. Smyke, PhD a, *, Charles H. Zeanah, Jr, MD a , Nathan A. Fox, PhD b , Charles A. Nelson III, PhD c The Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) is a randomized, controlled trial of foster care as an intervention for infants and toddlers following institutionalization. 1,2 The feasibility phase of the study, conducted in Bucharest, Romania, began in November 2000, and the study itself began in April 2001. The participants in this unique study were 208 young Romanian children who were assessed at baseline and then at regular intervals during the next 3 years. 1 Of this group, 136 institutional- ized children were randomized into conditions of either care as usual (CAU) (ie, insti- tutional care), or transfer into Romanian foster families. Comparison children, recruited from local health centers, had never been institutionalized and lived with their families in Bucharest. On average, children were 21 months old when the study began (range, 5–30 months). The institutionalized children had spent well over half their lives in insti- tutional care. BEIP personnel were Romanian psychologists and social workers who were recruited in Bucharest. The project manager was a Romanian-born American citizen The Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Early Experience and Brain Development (Charles A. Nelson, Network Chair). a Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine, 1440 Canal Street (TB-52), New Orleans, LA 70112, USA b Department of Human Development, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742, USA c Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Harvard Medical School/Children’s Hospital Boston, DMC Lab of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1 Autumn Street, Mailbox #713, Office AU621, Boston, MA 02115, USA * Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine, 1440 Canal Street (TB-52), New Orleans, LA 70112. E-mail address: asmyke@tulane.edu (A. T. Smyke). KEYWORDS  Psychosocial intervention  Institutions  Foster care  Attachment  Infants and toddlers Child Adolesc Psychiatric Clin N Am 18 (2009) 721–734 doi:10.1016/j.chc.2009.03.003 childpsych.theclinics.com 1056-4993/09/$ – see front matter ª 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.