Relevant research analyzing the major components of the foster care system is reviewed and critiqued. The research suggests that children are entering the foster care system with a greater severity of psychosocial disorders than in previous years. Regardless of the problems of foster children, empathic and flexible foster parents have a greater potential for creating a stable foster placement which facilitates the remediation of the children's problems. Systemic interventions during scheduled visits may be highly effective towards addressing the children's needs, facilitating reunification, and stabilizing the foster placement. Implications for professionals are discussed with a focus on the schisms which ultimately fragment the foster care system. (Contains 70 references). (Author)