Therapeutic foster care centers are an alternative to hospitalization. These homes are managed by foster parents who are specially trained to meet the requirements and provide care to such imbalanced children.

Therapeutic foster care center has been a unique and successful concept ever since it was started in the United States. There has been a significant reduction in the number of juvenile crimes and lower rates of delinquency through these centers. Therapeutic foster care programs were able to reduce the incidence of violent behavior and improve emotional balance.

     A foster parent has to fulfill certain requirements in order to become a certified therapeutic foster care parent. Some of these include balanced physical and mental health, able to earn sufficiently so as to support the family, should have a decently spacious home and a broad heart with kind and caring behavior. Foster parents receive 41 hours of pre-training before getting inducted into the process. The core curriculum for pre-service training is divided into four different parts. The curriculum includes introduction to foster care, related legal issues, issues concerned with developmental and emotional effects due to child abuse, separation and mistreatment, understanding the policy of recruiting agency, analyzing the standards required for foster care, getting acquainted with the children being recruited for treatment and understanding the roles of therapeutic foster families.

Responsibilities of a foster parent includes providing a comfortable and knowledge-based environment that will promote healthy development, understanding youth’s physical and emotional needs, attending to medical needs, assessing school performance and ensuring that the child attends weekly and monthly therapy sessions. The foster parent has to regularly update the case supervisor with all the details and observations concerned with the child.

    The average length of treatment at a therapeutic foster care center for each child is 12-18 months.