Recently, the systematic skills approach has been applied to the training of foster parents. A systematic skills training program for foster mothers was evaluated to investigate the relationship between skills training and the outcome of the placement for the child. The sample consisted of inner-city, lower socio-economic minority foster mothers and their foster children. The 10-week training program was eclectic and emphasized personal development as a prerequisite for skill development. The foster children of a group of foster mothers (N=8) trained in the program were compared with those of a no-contact control group (N=6) before and after training with regard to self-esteem, asocialization, emotionality-tension, self-exploration and placement stability. Dependent measures included self-report paper-and-pencil tests, foster parent ratings, independent judge's ratings of videotaped parent-child interactions and objective determination of placement continuation. Children of training group foster mothers improved significantly more than control children on emotionality-tension, but not on other measures. The findings suggest that future research should examine the effects of an extended training program. (Author/NRB)