Assessing the Efficacy of Pre-Service Trainings for Treatment Foster Parents

This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of two pre-service trainings: Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (MAPP, n = 81) and Pressley Ridge\u27s Treatment Foster Care pre-service training (PR-TFC, n = 71) on treatment foster parents\u27 parenting attitudes, readiness to provide treatment foster care, and attitudes toward providing treatment foster care. ANCOVAs revealed the PR-TFC group experienced significantly more change than the MAPP group in two parenting constructs, and the MAPP group experienced significantly more change than the PR-TFC group in one parenting construct. This study revealed no significant differences between groups in the amount of change in personal dedication to provide foster care or willingness to foster children with emotional and behavioral issues. However, a chi-square test of association showed licensing rates were significantly higher for the PR-TFC group than the MAPP group. This study also included a follow-up component for participants from the PR-TFC group who were licensed and had a child placed in their home. Repeated measures ANOVAs found significant increases for the PR-TFC group from posttest to follow-up and pretest to follow-up for personal dedication to fostering, but no significant changes in their willingness to foster. A description of treatment foster parent attitudes toward providing treatment foster care after a child was placed in the home is also provided. Practical implications of these results and recommendations for future research are discussed