Family-based foster care can change the lives of unsettled youngsters who are typically sent to secure residential units, according to the first major study of a unique foster project.

The report on the Community Alternative Placement Scheme (CAPS) calls for 'retention and replication' of the scheme, which pays carers a full-time salary to take children into their homes.

Researchers at the Centre for Children and Society, who undertook the three-year evaluation, examined 20 children, aged from nine to 17 with behavioural problems. Many of the children had spent much of their lives in care and would not normally have been considered suitable for family fostering.

All were found to have benefited from the experience of living with a foster care family.

One such example was a troubled boy prone to persistent tantrums who refused to eat his dinners. After joining the CAPS scheme and going into family foster care however, he learned to control his temper, developed a more diplomatic personality and agreed to eat with his family.

However, the research made clear that provision of support services was vital to the success of foster placements.

CAPS could not always secure a school placement for every youngster, which, in some cases led to repeat offending and a breakdown of the placement. The scheme however, is cheaper than secure accommodation and at least grants the child his/her liberty.