Fostering Healthy Futures Efficacy Trial for Preadolescent Youth in Foster Care

NCT00810056 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 02-0516bR01MH076919
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 426
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This is a multi-county randomized controlled trial of the Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) preventive intervention program (consisting of mentoring and skills groups) with 256 maltreated preadolescent youth in out-of-home care. It is hypothesized that participation in the FHF program will result in better functioning in cognitive, social, and behavioral domains, and that these gains will result in improved mental health functioning, quality of life, and reductions in problem behaviors and adverse life-course outcomes.

Conditions

Child Abuse

Keywords

Child abuse and neglect; Out-of-home care; Mentoring; Skills groups; Assessment

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Evaluation of Child mental health, social, & behavioral functioning and quality of life as measured from multiple informants and sources.

  6 and 16 months post intervention

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Evaluation of Problem behaviors, life-course outcomes, placement history, and service system involvement as measured from multiple informants and sources.

  6 and 16 months post intervention and possible future timepoints

Study Arms (2)

Assessment only

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Cognitive, academic achievement and mental health screening assessment and report.

Other: Assessment

Assessment + FHF

EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive, academic achievement and mental health screening assessment and report. Fostering Healthy Futures program (FHF) including weekly therapeutic skill groups and mentoring over a 9-month period.

Other: Assessment; Behavioral: Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF)

Interventions

Assessment OTHER

Cognitive, academic achievement, and mental health screening assessment and report.

Assessment + FHF; Assessment only

Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) BEHAVIORAL

Weekly therapeutic skill groups and mentoring over a 9-month period.

Assessment + FHF

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 9 Years - 11 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• All of the 9-11-year-old children court-ordered into out-of-home care (as a result of maltreatment) over the prior year in participating counties, including:
• Youth placed in group homes, foster homes, and with kin
• Youth with significant behavior problems
• Youth who meet criteria for mental health diagnoses or dual diagnosis
• Youth with mild cognitive impairment

You may not qualify if:

• Youth who reunify before the beginning of the intervention
• Youth with significant cognitive, behavioral, and/or mental health impairment that interfered with either with their ability to benefit from the prevention program or to participate safely
• Youth who were not proficient enough in English to participate
• Youth who lived too far (more than 35 minutes) from sites where groups were held

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Colorado, Denver: lead
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): collaborator
• The Kempe Foundation for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Jeferson and Broomfield Counties

Denver, Colorado, 80218, United States

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Taussig HN, Culhane SE, Hettleman D. Fostering healthy futures: an innovative preventive intervention for preadolescent youth in out-of-home care. Child Welfare. 2007 Sep-Oct;86(5):113-31.

  PMID: 18422051 BACKGROUND

• Hambrick E, Lee SK, Weiler L, Collins JO, Rhodes T, Taussig H. Engagement in a Preventive Intervention for Preadolescent Children in Foster Care: Considerations for Intervention Design. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2023 Oct;54(5):1373-1385. doi: 10.1007/s10578-022-01341-8. Epub 2022 Mar 18.

  PMID: 35303199 DERIVED

• Taussig HN, Dmitrieva J, Garrido EF, Cooley JL, Crites E. Fostering Healthy Futures Preventive Intervention for Children in Foster Care: Long-term Delinquency Outcomes from a Randomized Controlled Trial. Prev Sci. 2021 Nov;22(8):1120-1133. doi: 10.1007/s11121-021-01235-6. Epub 2021 Apr 27.

  PMID: 33905053 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Restraint, Physical

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior Control; Therapeutics; Immobilization; Investigative Techniques

Study Officials

• Heather N Taussig, PhD

  University of Colorado, Denver

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 16, 2008
• First Posted: December 17, 2008
• Study Start: June 1, 2007
• Primary Completion: March 23, 2017
• Study Completion: March 23, 2017
• Last Updated: March 27, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-03

Locations

US (1)