Fostering Healthy Futures® for Teens
Fostering Healthy Futures® for Teens (FHF-T) is a skills training and mentoring program. FHF-T is designed for eighth and ninth graders with current or prior child welfare involvement due to maltreatment and one or more adverse childhood experiences.
The program aims to help teens develop social-emotional skills in two ways: one-on-one mentoring and group workshops. During one-on-one meetings, mentors teach and help teens practice social-emotional skills, assist with goal-setting exercises, connect teens with needed resources, provide support, engage teens in a range of activities, and help teens focus on the future. Mentors engage important adults in teens’ lives (e.g., caregivers, academic counselors, school personnel) to expand and strengthen teens’ networks of supportive adult relationships and to model self-advocacy skills. Mentors also connect teens to adults working in their fields of interest through career shadowing. Mentors interact with teens between visits to reinforce skills and to support the teens’ goals. The six group workshops cover (1) teambuilding and trust, (2) communicating beyond words, (3) problem solving, (4) community service, (5) sexual health, and (6) program wrap-up and celebration.
FHF-T does not currently meet criteria to receive a rating because no studies of the program that achieved a rating of moderate or high on design and execution demonstrated a favorable effect on a target outcome.
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed: Jun 2022
Sources
The program or service description, target population, and program or service delivery and implementation information were informed by the following sources: the program or service manual, the program or service developer’s website, and the California Evidence Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare.
This information does not necessarily represent the views of the program or service developers. For more information on how this program or service was reviewed, visit the Review Process page or download the Handbook.
Target Population
FHF-T is designed for eighth and ninth graders with current or previous child welfare involvement due to maltreatment and one or more adverse childhood experiences (e.g., exposure to violence; experiencing homelessness; parental substance use, mental illness, or incarceration).
Dosage
FHF-T is delivered over 30 weeks. Teens participate in 2–3 hours of one-on-one mentoring weekly and six 90-minute group workshops every 6 weeks. Mentors meet individually with teens, as well as interact with teens by text, phone, or email between visits. The program supervisor delivers the group workshops.
Location/Delivery Setting
Recommended Locations/Delivery Settings
FHF-T is delivered in community settings.
Education, Certifications and Training
The program supervisor supervises mentors, leads group workshops, and oversees daily operations of the program. Mentors deliver one-on-one mentoring. The program supervisor must be a licensed or license-eligible behavioral health provider with a minimum of 5 years clinical experience, including experience with youth who have emotional and behavioral challenges or who have experienced child maltreatment/child welfare involvement. Program supervisors should also have experience supervising undergraduate/graduate students or clinicians. Mentors are typically graduate students in a behavioral health training program who receive course credit for their time.
Program supervisors participate in a 3-day pre-implementation training. They also participate in 2–3 hours of training and consultation per week throughout their first year of delivering the program. Mentors participate in a 3-day orientation that teaches them about the FHF-T program philosophy and policies, mentoring skills, and strategies for planning initial visits with teens. Each week, mentors attend a training seminar and receive one hour each of individual and group supervision led by the program supervisor.
Program or Service Documentation
Book/Manual/Available documentation used for review
The Teen Skills Training and Mentor Orientation Manual is implemented in conjunction with the Teen Pre-Implementation Document.
Fireman, O., Bender, K., Wertheimer, R., Malen, A., & Taussig, H. N. (2021). Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens skills training and mentor orientation manual. University of Colorado.
Taussig, H. N., Wertheimer, R., Corvinus, J., Fireman, O., & Malen, A. (2021). Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens pre-implementation documents. University of Colorado.
Available languages
FHF-T materials are available in English.
Other supporting materials
For More Information
Website: https://www.fosteringhealthyfutures.org/
Phone: (303) 871-2937
Contact form: https://www.fosteringhealthyfutures.org/contact
Note: The details on Dosage; Location; Education, Certifications, and Training; Other Supporting Materials; and For More Information sections above are provided to website users for informational purposes only. This information is not exhaustive and may be subject to change.
| Results of Search and Review | Number of Studies Identified and Reviewed for Fostering Healthy Futures® for Teens |
|---|---|
| Identified in Search | 2 |
| Eligible for Review | 1 |
| Rated High | 1 |
| Rated Moderate | 0 |
| Rated Low | 0 |
| Reviewed Only for Risk of Harm | 0 |
| Outcome | Effect Size
 and Implied Percentile Effect
|
N of Studies (Findings) | N of Participants | Summary of Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child well-being: Behavioral and emotional functioning |
0.05
2 |
1 (9) | 196 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 9 Unfavorable: 0 |
| Child well-being: Social functioning |
0.08
3 |
1 (10) | 195 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 10 Unfavorable: 0 |
| Child well-being: Delinquent behavior |
0.21
8 |
1 (10) | 245 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 10 Unfavorable: 0 |
Note: For the effect sizes and implied percentile effects reported in the table, a positive number favors the intervention group and a negative number favors the comparison group. Effect sizes for some outcomes were not able to be calculated by the Prevention Services Clearinghouse.
| Outcome | Effect Size
and Implied Percentile Effect
|
N of Studies (Findings) | N of Participants | Summary of Findings |
Months after treatment when outcome measured
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child well-being: Behavioral and emotional functioning |
0.05
2 |
1 (9) | 196 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 9 Unfavorable: 0 |
- |
| Study 13042 - Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens vs. No Treatment Control (Fostering Healthy Futures, 2021) | |||||
| Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey: Future Orientation |
0.00
0 |
- | 193 | - | 0 |
| Youth Self-Report: Internalizing |
0.18
6 |
- | 196 | - | 0 |
| Youth Self-Report: Externalizing |
0.08
3 |
- | 196 | - | 0 |
| Trauma Symptom Checklist |
0.13
5 |
- | 196 | - | 0 |
| Psychological Sense of School Membership: School Connectedness |
0.08
3 |
- | 189 | - | 15 |
| Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey: Future Orientation |
-0.15
-6 |
- | 185 | - | 15 |
| Youth Self-Report: Internalizing |
0.11
4 |
- | 190 | - | 15 |
| Youth Self-Report: Externalizing |
0.10
4 |
- | 190 | - | 15 |
| Trauma Symptom Checklist |
-0.07
-2 |
- | 190 | - | 15 |
| Child well-being: Social functioning |
0.08
3 |
1 (10) | 195 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 10 Unfavorable: 0 |
- |
| Study 13042 - Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens vs. No Treatment Control (Fostering Healthy Futures, 2021) | |||||
| Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment – Short Form: Caregiver Support |
Null
not calculated |
- | 195 | - | 0 |
| Activity Scale: Involved in Any Visual/Performing Arts Activities in Past Year |
0.32
12 |
- | 194 | - | 0 |
| Activity Scale: Involved in Any Coached Sports in Past Year |
-0.04
-1 |
- | 195 | - | 0 |
| Activity Scale: Involved in Any Volunteering in Past Year |
0.10
3 |
- | 195 | - | 0 |
| Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment – Short Form: Caregiver Support |
0.10
4 |
- | 187 | - | 15 |
| Activity Scale: Involved in Any School Clubs in Past Year |
-0.04
-1 |
- | 188 | - | 15 |
| Activity Scale: Involved in Any Community Clubs in Past Year |
0.08
3 |
- | 187 | - | 15 |
| Activity Scale: Involved in Any Visual/Performing Arts Activities in Past Year |
-0.17
-6 |
- | 188 | - | 15 |
| Activity Scale: Involved in Any Coached Sports in Past Year |
0.40
15 |
- | 188 | - | 15 |
| Activity Scale: Involved in Any Volunteering in Past Year |
-0.02
0 |
- | 188 | - | 15 |
| Child well-being: Delinquent behavior |
0.21
8 |
1 (10) | 245 |
Favorable:
0 No Effect: 10 Unfavorable: 0 |
- |
| Study 13042 - Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens vs. No Treatment Control (Fostering Healthy Futures, 2021) | |||||
| Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey: Any Violent Delinquency in Past Semester (%) |
0.46
17 |
- | 196 | - | 0 |
| Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey: Trouble with the Police in Past Semester (%) |
-0.13
-5 |
- | 196 | - | 0 |
| Things Your Friends Have Done: Peer Deviance |
0.18
7 |
- | 193 | - | 0 |
| Any Juvenile Justice Court Charge (%) |
0.54
20 |
- | 245 | - | 15 |
| Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey: Any Violent Delinquency in Past Year (%) |
0.33
12 |
- | 190 | - | 15 |
| Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey: Any Non-Violent Delinquency in Past Year (%) |
0.16
6 |
- | 190 | - | 15 |
| Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey: Trouble with the Police in Past Year (%) |
0.11
4 |
- | 190 | - | 15 |
| Things Your Friends Have Done: Peer Deviance |
0.06
2 |
- | 188 | - | 15 |
| Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey: Any Delinquency in Past Semester (%) |
Null
not calculated |
- | 196 | - | 0 |
| Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey: Any Delinquency in Past Year (%) |
0.21
8 |
- | 190 | - | 15 |
*p <.05
Note: For the effect sizes and implied percentile effects reported in the table, a positive number favors the intervention group and a negative number favors the comparison group. Effect sizes and implied percentile effects were calculated by the Prevention Services Clearinghouse as described in the Handbook of Standards and Procedures, Section 5.10.4 and may not align with effect sizes reported in individual publications. Effect sizes for some outcomes were not able to be calculated by the Prevention Services Clearinghouse.
Only publications with eligible contrasts that met design and execution standards are included in the individual study findings table.
Full citations for the studies shown in the table are available in the "Studies Reviewed" section.
Studies Rated High
Study 13042Taussig, H. N., Bender, K., Bennett, R., Combs, K. M., Fireman, O., & Wertheimer, R. (2019). Mentoring for teens with child welfare involvement: Permanency outcomes from a randomized controlled trial of the Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens program. Child Welfare, 97(5), 1-24. https://bit.ly/3MverY2
Fostering Healthy Futures. (2021). Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens: Final narrative report. https://osf.io/ek46m/
Fostering Healthy Futures. (2017). Analysis plan for Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens (FHF-T) research study. https://osf.io/n28ws/
Studies Not Eligible for Review
Study 13039
Taussig, H., Weiler, L., Rhodes, T., Hambrick, E., Wertheimer, R., Fireman, O., & Combs, M. (2015). Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens: Adaptation of an evidence-based program. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 6(4), 617-642. https://doi.org/10.1086/684021
This study is ineligible for review because it does not use an eligible design (Study Eligibility Criterion 4.1.4).