Infants in Foster Care

Abstract This article highlights the importance of attachment issues for infants placed in foster care. We offer a framework for understanding how early separation and maltreatment may affect infants' ability to securely rely on a foster parent. We argue that disruptions in foster infants' primary attachment relationships, combined with a history of maltreatment, place these infants at risk for developing predominantly insecure or disorganized attachments to foster parents, regardless of foster parent characteristics. We argue that foster infants' successful passage through the foster care system requires a high level of foster parent sensitivity to their unique attachment needs. We also argue that this level of sensitivity is likely to require specialized training for foster parents.