Directions Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care

Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care is a specially designed short-term fostering programme for young people (aged 10 to 16 years) who aren't able to live with their parents or a mainstream foster carer.

These young people have difficulties forming or maintaining relationships with adults and other young people.  They may well have been abused or neglected.  They are very likely to have low (or no) self-esteem and/or self-control which can lead to challenging and difficult behaviour and they may well have committed offences or misused drugs or alcohol.  It is not unusual for them to have changed foster care placements or schools frequently.  They may also demonstrate symptoms of anxiety or sadness and depression.

Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care is a team effort involving foster carers, health, education and children's services around.  Each young person is given an intensive programme of support, activities, treatments and therapies alongside a system of rewards and consequences. These aim of the programme is to stabilise the young person's behaviour, prevent placement breakdown and bring about positive and lasting change in their life.

The concept has been very successful in the US and is now being introduced across the UK - Reading Borough Council is one first authorities in the country to pilot this programme.

Specialist Directions foster carers are key to the success of the scheme and we are always looking for people who enjoy working with young people and want to make a real difference by helping a troubled youngster turn their life around.

Article		Description
	Becoming a Directions Carer	Information about our recruitment and assessment process, support and payments for carers working with the MTFC programme