School ReadinessEIFCNCT00701194
Early Intervention Foster Care: A Prevention Trial
A study testing Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC) in people with School Readiness and Developmental Delays, run by Oregon Social Learning Center at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The Early Intervention Foster Care [EIFC] project is an efficacy trial of the Oregon Social Learning Center Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Program, a preventive intervention that targets 3 commonly co-occurring variables among young foster children: (1) behavioral problems, (2) physiological dysregulation… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 3 to 6 years
- Conditions the study is for
- School Readiness, Developmental Delays
- What is being tested?
- Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC)
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 177 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Dec 1999to Mar 2011
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 3 to 6 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Child
Who may be able to join
- child age 3 to 6 years currently in foster care
- child has entered new foster placement
- child currently living in Lane County, Oregon
Who cannot join
- child is medically or developmentally unable to complete assessment tasks
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
The Early Intervention Foster Care [EIFC] project is an efficacy trial of the Oregon Social Learning Center Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Program, a preventive intervention that targets 3 commonly co-occurring variables among young foster children: (1) behavioral problems, (2) physiological dysregulation within the neuroendocrine system (i.e., HPA axis activity), and (3) developmental delays.
Read the detailed description
The Early Intervention Foster Care project is an ongoing randomized efficacy trial to evaluate the Early Intervention Foster Care Program (EIFC). EIFC, also known at Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care-Preschool (MTFC-P), is a preventive intervention that is specifically designed to address the needs of preschool-aged foster children and their caregivers. Over the first 5 years of the project data was collected from 177 preschool-aged children, 117 of whom were in the Oregon foster care system and 60 of whom were living with their biological families for a community comparison sample. Foster children in the study were randomly assigned to the EIFC experimental intervention condition or a regular foster care condition (RFC). The following hypotheses are under investigation: (1) Relative to children in the RFC condition, children in the EIFC condition will show greater improvements in temporally proximal outcomes (e.g., behavioral/emotional, salivary cortisol, and developmental) and in temporally distal outcomes (e.g., behavioral functioning in the school setting; long-term placement stability, including reunification or adoption; and mental health status, including psychiatric diagnoses). (2) Proximal outcomes over the course of the intervention will predict distal outcomes during the early elementary school years. (3) Proximal outcomes will be mediated by caregivers' childrearing practices-specifically, engagement with and monitoring of the child in the home, the quality and consistency of parental discipline, and the use of positive reinforcement strategies. (4) The same childrearing practices will mediate the psychosocial adjustment of the child in the aftercare setting (i.e., return to family of origin, placement in adoptive home, or continued placement in long-term foster home). (5) The EIFC intervention will cost-effectively reduce the need for mental health and social services for children, decreasing the length of time that children spend in foster care and reducing the need for special education services for children.
- Conditions
- School Readiness, Developmental Delays
- Being tested
- Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC)
- Keywords
- placement instability, disruptive behavior disorders, school readiness, developmental delays, cortisol, executive functioning, therapeutic foster care, prevention, early intervention
- Medical subject headings
- Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC)Behavioural
Also called Multidemensional Treatment Foster Care-Preschool (MTFC-P)
The EIFC/MTFC-P intervention is delivered through a treatment team approach. Foster parents receive preservice training and ongoing consultation from program staff. Children receive individual therapy and attend a therapeutic playgroup. The intervention emphasizes the use of concrete encouragement for prosocial behavior; consistent, nonabusive limit-setting to address disruptive behavior; and close supervision of the child. The EIFC intervention employs a developmental framework in which the challenges of foster preschoolers are viewed from the perspective of delayed maturation and is oriented toward creating optimal environmental conditions to facilitate developmental progress. These conditions include a responsive and consistent caregiver and a predictable daily routine.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Experimental | EIFC/MTFC-P Receives: Behavioral: Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC) |
| 2 | No intervention | Services as usual |
| Community Comparison | No intervention | Non-maltreated community pre-schoolers from low-income biological families. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
placement stability
Measured: 6 months to 48 months post-intervention
Secondary outcomes (2)
attachment and behavioral regulation
Measured: baseline through 48 months post-intervention
neuroendocrine and executive functioning
Measured: baseline through 48 months post-intervention
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted19 Jun 2008 (estimated)
- Study startDec 1999
- Primary completionMar 2011
- Study completionMar 2011
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for School ReadinessStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 177 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Oregon Social Learning Center
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Philip A. Fisher, PhD, Oregon Social Learning Center
- Investigators
- Philip A Fisher, PhD, Principal investigator, Oregon Social Learning Center
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00701194
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- R01MH059780
- Acronym
- EIFC
- Status last verified
- Jul 2025
- First submitted
- 17 Jun 2008
- Last updated
- 9 Jul 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 9 Jul 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Early Intervention Foster Care: A Prevention Trial
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00701194
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- EIFC / R01MH059780
- Conditions
- School Readiness, Developmental Delays
- Keywords
- placement instability, disruptive behavior disorders, school readiness, developmental delays, cortisol, executive functioning, therapeutic foster care, prevention
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 177 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Oregon Social Learning CenterUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Study start
- Dec 1999
- Primary completion
- Mar 2011 (actual)
- Study completion
- Mar 2011 (actual)
- First posted
- 19 Jun 2008 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The Early Intervention Foster Care [EIFC] project is an efficacy trial of the Oregon Social Learning Center Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Program, a preventive intervention that targets 3 commonly co-occurring variables among young foster children: (1) behavioral problems, (2) physiological dysregulation within the neuroendocrine system (i.e., HPA axis activity), and (3) developmental delays.
Detailed description
The Early Intervention Foster Care project is an ongoing randomized efficacy trial to evaluate the Early Intervention Foster Care Program (EIFC). EIFC, also known at Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care-Preschool (MTFC-P), is a preventive intervention that is specifically designed to address the needs of preschool-aged foster children and their caregivers. Over the first 5 years of the project data was collected from 177 preschool-aged children, 117 of whom were in the Oregon foster care system and 60 of whom were living with their biological families for a community comparison sample. Foster children in the study were randomly assigned to the EIFC experimental intervention condition or a regular foster care condition (RFC). The following hypotheses are under investigation: (1) Relative to children in the RFC condition, children in the EIFC condition will show greater improvements in temporally proximal outcomes (e.g., behavioral/emotional, salivary cortisol, and developmental) and in temporally distal outcomes (e.g., behavioral functioning in the school setting; long-term placement stability, including reunification or adoption; and mental health status, including psychiatric diagnoses). (2) Proximal outcomes over the course of the intervention will predict distal outcomes during the early elementary school years. (3) Proximal outcomes will be mediated by caregivers' childrearing practices-specifically, engagement with and monitoring of the child in the home, the quality and consistency of parental discipline, and the use of positive reinforcement strategies. (4) The same childrearing practices will mediate the psychosocial adjustment of the child in the aftercare setting (i.e., return to family of origin, placement in adoptive home, or continued placement in long-term foster home). (5) The EIFC intervention will cost-effectively reduce the need for mental health and social services for children, decreasing the length of time that children spend in foster care and reducing the need for special education services for children.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 3
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Experimental | Behavioral: Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC)EIFC/MTFC-P |
| 2 | No intervention | –Services as usual |
| Community Comparison | No intervention | –Non-maltreated community pre-schoolers from low-income biological families. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 3 to 6 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- child age 3 to 6 years currently in foster care
- child has entered new foster placement
- child currently living in Lane County, Oregon
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- child is medically or developmentally unable to complete assessment tasks
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC)Also: Multidemensional Treatment Foster Care-Preschool (MTFC-P)The EIFC/MTFC-P intervention is delivered through a treatment team approach. Foster parents receive preservice training and ongoing consultation from program staff. Children receive individual therapy and attend a therapeutic playgroup. The intervention emphasizes the use of concrete encouragement for prosocial behavior; consistent, nonabusive limit-setting to address disruptive behavior; and close supervision of the child. The EIFC intervention employs a developmental framework in which the challenges of foster preschoolers are viewed from the perspective of delayed maturation and is oriented toward creating optimal environmental conditions to facilitate developmental progress. These conditions include a responsive and consistent caregiver and a predictable daily routine. | Behavioural | 1 |
Primary outcome
placement stability
Time frame: 6 months to 48 months post-intervention
2 secondary outcomes
attachment and behavioral regulation
Time frame: baseline through 48 months post-intervention
neuroendocrine and executive functioning
Time frame: baseline through 48 months post-intervention
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 9 Jul 2025.
- Oregon Social Learning Center websiteLink provided by the sponsor.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Philip A Fisher, PhD principal investigator
Oregon Social Learning Center
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC) in people with School Readiness and Developmental Delays, run by Oregon Social Learning Center at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 9 Jul 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
placement stability (time frame: 6 months to 48 months post-intervention). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 9 Jul 2025.