Permanency Planning

Permanency planning is the process of assessing and preparing a child for long term care when in out-of-home placements such as kinship, foster care or institutions. A care plan must centre on what is in the child’s best interests, and therefore requires an ongoing assessment of the child and her needs. A guardian may be appointed as a further protection of a child’s rights.

The ultimate goal of permanency planning is to ensure a secure environment with lifelong bonds that will support the child into adulthood. For most children this will be provided by their birth parents and relatives, and therefore family reunification should be the primary goal. Where reunification is not possible or suitable for the child, adoption or Islamic kafalah is usually the next best option since it offers more stability and enables the child to develop a lasting attachment to carers.

Each child is an individual and brings a unique set of requirements. The choice of placement must therefore consider the child’s cultural and religious background, abilities and any special needs, attachments to significant people and how such relationships can be maintained, their education, health and overall development. Ideally, children should be kept close to their original communities in order help maintain their identity and to reduce disruption to their everyday lives.

While short term care such as fostering can provide a safe place for a child and time to assess their needs, it is often an unsuitable long term option since it is a temporary arrangement that is prone to breakdown. Social workers or other child protection paraprofessionals in the community must determine the use of short term care and the development of longer term plans with the full participation of the child, birth family, and prospective caretakers, providing opportunities for contact with each other, and preparing all for moves.

All placements should be monitored regularly to ensure the child is safe and his/her physical, emotional, and educational needs are met. This includes children who have been recently returned to their birth family or who are newly placed with adoptive parents. Monitoring enables the provision of family support services, and helps to reduce placement breakdown and incidences of abuse.

The resources in this section focus on the factors that should be considered when planning a child’s care, and the advantages and disadvantages of placement options.

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Provisional Protective Measures: The Principles to be Observed During the Institutionalization of a Child (3 of 3)

International Social Service and International Reference Center for the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family (ISS/IRC), 2006

A brief 2-page document that highlights the importance of child participation, post care planning, guarding against abuse, and connecting residential institutions with the surrounding community.

Adoption: Evaluating the Eligibility and Suitability of Prospective Adopters

ISS, 2006

A short 2-page fact sheet on how to evaluate the suitability of a family that wishes to adopt a child.

A Sense of Belonging: Case studies in positive care options for children

David Tolfree, 2006

Save the Children's "First Resort" series focuses on the needs and rights of children who, for a wide variety of reasons, are lacking adequate parental care. This third paper in the First Resort series presents practical examples of the range of options available to policy-makers, practitioners and others with responsibilities for the care and protection of children without adequate parental care.

Elaborating A Lifelong Plan: Family Reintegration

International Social Service and International Reference Center for the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family (ISS/IRC) , 31 Dec 2005

A brief fact sheet on family reintegration. Provides an overview of what a social worker should pay attention to when assessing a child's situation.

Permanency Planning: The Principles to be Taken into Account

International Social Services and International Reference Centre for the Rights of the Child Deprived of their Family (ISS/IRC), 2005

A brief fact sheet on global permanency planning, which highlights the importance of using an individualized and multidisciplinary approach to creating a long-term plan for every child.

Working with Children and Families, Vol. 2. Life Story Work

Louise Melville, British Council, Jordan, 2005

Practitioner guidance on communicating and recording children’s care history in order to increase their understanding of what happened to them and to help prepare children for moves

Scotland: National Care Standards: Foster Care and Family Placement Services

Scottish Executive, 2005

Serves as an example of fostering service standards from the perspective of children, birth families, and foster caregivers

Permanency Planning: The Principles to be Taken into Account

International Social Services , 2005

A brief theoretical overview of the considerations for permanency planning.

Permanency Planning - The Principles to be Taken into Account.doc

Ensuring Care Proceedings: The Legal Process

International Social Service and International Reference Center for the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family (ISS/IRC), 2005

A brief fact sheet on providing legal protection for children. Highlights the search for stable solutions, personalization of measures, procedural guarantees and care decisions.

A Global Policy for the Protection of Children Deprived of Parental Care

Claudia Cabral, 2004

This paper presents a set of global policy guidelines for the protection of children without parental care. It recommends the need for a global understanding of best practices within the legal framework of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.