Looked after children represent a vulnerable group in society, many of whom are exposed to maltreatment, particularly in the form of relational trauma, prior to placement with a foster family. Challenging behaviours can place foster placements at risk and looked after children often confront the possibility of placement breakdown. A carer’s capacity to retain a robust understanding of the children in their care as autonomous individuals with needs, feelings and thoughts can be important in enabling them to respond more effectively to the worrying or disruptive behaviour they may encounter. The Reflective Fostering Programme (RFP) is a new group-based programme aiming to support foster carers of children aged 4–11. This innovative development follows calls by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and other organisations to help improve outcomes for children in care by improving resources for their carers. The RFP is rooted in evidence drawn from the field of contemporary attachment and mentalizing research, which indicates that children who have a carer high in reflective functioning tend to have more favourable outcomes in terms of social-emotional well-being. It also draws on the evidence that looking after a child who has impaired capacity to mentalize as a result of early relational trauma affects the carer’s capacity to mentalize and respond sensitively to the child (Ensink, et al., 2015). This article sets out the rationale for the RFP, outlines its key elements and concludes by indicating future service implementation and a planned feasibility study examining this approach.

中文翻译：

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反思性培养计划：新方法的背景和发展

受照顾的儿童是社会中的一个弱势群体，其中许多人在被安置到寄养家庭之前就受到虐待，特别是关系创伤的形式。具有挑战性的行为会使寄养安置处于危险之中，并且被照看的儿童经常面临安置破裂的可能性。照顾者保持对他们照顾下的儿童作为具有需求、感受和想法的自主个体的深刻理解的能力对于使他们能够更有效地应对他们可能遇到的令人担忧或破坏性的行为非常重要。反思性寄养计划 (RFP) 是一项新的基于团体的计划，旨在支持 4-11 岁儿童的寄养者。这项创新发展是在国家健康与护理卓越研究所 (NICE) 和其他组织呼吁通过改善护理人员的资源来帮助改善护理儿童的结果之后做出的。RFP 植根于当代依恋和心智化研究领域的证据，这表明在反思功能方面有较高照顾者的儿童在社会情感幸福方面往往会有更有利的结果。它还借鉴了以下证据，即照顾因早期关系创伤而导致心智化能力受损的儿童会影响照顾者对孩子的心智化和敏感反应能力（Ensink 等，2015）。本文阐述了 RFP 的基本原理，