Foster care has been one of the primary interventions in society's efforts to address child maltreatment. The foster parents and foster homes follow a process of certification intended to ensure that maltreated children be placed in substitute care that supports and encourages positive outcomes. One of the outcomes of principle concern is mental health. Few studies have been conducted that explore the makeup of certified foster homes with respect to the cumulative impact of multiple indicators

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... f quality on mental health outcomes of foster youth. This study sought to identify a typology of foster homes based on theorized indicators of quality and utilizing a dataset from the Supporting Siblings in Foster Care intervention. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analyses, k-means cluster analyses, and Latent Class Analyses were separately conducted to develop typologies. Differences in group means of indicator variables were used to suggest characteristics of different foster home types. ANOVA and multivariate hierarchical linear regression were used to explore differences in mental health measures at baseline and over time between types of foster homes. Results indicated distinct typologies using the different clustering methods. In addition, foster home types characterized by a higher prevalence of kinship care and sibling togetherness were generally associated with lower estimated scores on several standardized mental health measures. Other variables were indicative of foster home type but were inconsistent in terms of their impact on mental health outcomes. These included foster parent education and experience, household size and income, length of placement ii and contact with biological parents. Implications for research, policy, programs, and practice are discussed. iii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the many individuals who have contributed to the completion of this project. I thank my committee, for their endless flexibility and support. Bowen McBeath has tirelessly worked with me to edit and revise iteration after iteration of these chapters. I deeply appreciate his patience and wisdom. Lew Bank is a constant source of positive energy, a treat to be around. I thank him for being the person he is. Joel Steele inspired me to look at things in new ways and provided encouragement and support throughout. And Brianne Kothari who embodies kindness and competence has been a pleasure to work with both as a committee member and a supervisee. There are a host of other research and teaching professors, project managers, colleagues and coworkers who have made this experience rewarding. I also owe great thanks to the foster youth and foster parents who participated in the Supporting Sibling in Foster Care study and their willingness to share their experiences. Without their contribution, this would not have been possible. Finally, and most importantly, I can't begin to express the gratitude and love I have for my wife and children, for their patience and understanding as I've been unavailable on so many occasions in the pursuit of this degree. I thank them for their selfless support.