1201 Child Placement Services

C. ELEMENTS OF PERMANENCY PLANNING CASEWORK

1. Early Planning

Early planning is a key element of permanency planning. When an agency is involved with a family and it appears that placement is likely, the agency should ask the family to help identify relatives and kin who can serve as potential resources for the child and his/her family. With early identification, the necessary assessments can be made with relatives and kin so that if the child must be removed from the home, he/she can be placed with appropriate relatives or kin. If a child must be removed from the home and reunification is the plan, early and intensive work with the parents should occur with measurable, goal-oriented, time-limited services that can help the family rectify the central problem that led to placement (please refer to the Relative Notification information found within Chapter IV; Section 1201; IV – Placement Decision Making for further discussion on requirements on identifying and notifying relatives of children placed into care).

A child deserves a permanent home as soon as possible. The difficulties inherent in achieving permanency for a child can be mitigated by beginning permanency planning as soon as a child enters foster care or before, if possible. Conditions supporting early planning include:

• The reasons the child is being removed are fresh on the minds of social workers and parents.
• Parents have not yet adjusted to their loss and are motivated to change.
• If a parent is missing, it is easier to find them and involve them in planning for the future.
• The child has not settled into a psychologically permanent relationship with the foster parents, nor has he/she had to suffer repeated damaging moves.

2. Concurrent Permanency Planning

Concurrent permanency planning is the process of working towards a primary permanent plan for a child, such as family reunification, while developing at least one alternative permanency plan at the same time. Concurrent permanency planning is used to keep the focus on the child’s urgent needs for safety and permanence and to reduce the length of time a child spends in foster care.

When a child enters foster care, the primary plan is usually reunification with the parents or caretakers from whom the child is removed. In concurrent permanency planning, the social worker is developing at least one alternative permanent plan jointly with the family. If the Juvenile Court determines that reunification is not possible because it is inconsistent with the child’s needs for safety and permanence, the alternative plan is implemented. If reunification efforts cease, relatives and kin that have been assessed to be appropriate resources for a child may become the permanent placement resource for the child. If there are no appropriate relatives or kin alternatives, consideration should be made early to place the child in a foster family home where the foster parents are trained to work with the parents toward reunification. The foster parent should also be a potential adoptive resource if reunification does not occur in a reasonable amount of time (please refer to the information on Concurrent Permanency Planning within Chapter IV; Section 1201; The Children’s Services Yellow Pages: Tools for Enhanced Practice for additional information).

3. Shared Decision Making

In order to achieve timely permanence, effective planning for children is required. Effective planning requires the ability and willingness to make decisions based on the greatest amount of pertinent information. The best interest of the child is a continuing concern throughout the process and must be evaluated in the context of the current situation at each decision point.

Often there are not any easy solutions or any plan without disadvantages. In these instances, all factors must be weighed carefully and the plan chosen that has the best chance of success under the circumstances.

The serious consequences of permanency planning decisions mandate that no one person take full responsibility for making them; responsibility shall be shared with others who have knowledge and insight about the case.

MRS and System of Care principles help guide us in that families have the most information about themselves and that information is critical for decision-making. Parents also need to be fully informed of their rights and responsibilities and of the consequences of their behavior. Extended family and kin can be a resource for support to the parents and child, as well as a potential permanent resource.

With their knowledge of the situation and involvement in the decision-making and planning process, these roles can be maximized. The communities in which families live also provide many of the resources and support that families need. The families’ link to their community is a critical piece in decision-making. MRS and System of Care also help us realize that community members should be seen as key partners in planning for children. County Departments of Social Services and other agencies involved with the child and family also have key information and supportive services that need to be coordinated in decision-making and planning. All of these partners must be involved in sharing information for the purpose of well-informed decisions and planning for the child with a focus on safety and permanence (please refer to Chapter IV; Section 1201; The Children’s Services Yellow Pages: Tools for Enhanced Practice for additional information on Family Group Decision Making and Community Assessment Teams and to Chapter IV; Section 1201; IV – Placement Decision Making for additional information on kinship care).

Other key partners in the shared decision-making process in permanency planning are the courts and the Judge. Judges, attorneys and Guardians ad Litem all need complete information in order to conduct their various roles and to make well-informed decisions. It is important to include the attorneys and Guardians ad Litem in the agency reviews and to solicit their perspectives on the case. When going before the Court, the social worker shall ensure that the court summary has complete, concise, and relevant information so that the judge can make well-informed decisions.

Conditions supporting shared decision-making:

• It is often difficult to decide if a home is, or ever can be, adequate for a particular child; and, if not, to decide what other living arrangement is most suitable.
• Collaboration with other knowledgeable people provides the best guarantee that the best plan will be made.
• Shared decision-making lessens the possibility of bias and error.
• The use of shared decision-making provides a sound basis for making recommendations to the court and shares the responsibility for the consequences of fateful decisions.