ABSTRACT
Assessment of Youth in Foster Care: Best practices for assessing youth in foster care are addressed. Abuse- and trauma-related symptoms commonly occurring among foster youth are reviewed as well as presentations which often are misdiagnosed. Specific assessment measures considered to be reliable, valid, and normed (standardized) are discussed. Issues related to agreement between youth self-report and caregiver report are examined. A transactional model is presented to assist in the conceptualization and formulation of symptoms and case needs as related to youth in foster care. Practical guidelines for administration of measures and feedback for results and recommendations are presented.Keywords: assessment, symptoms, abuse, foster care
