Permanence and foster care

Permanency for youth in foster care.

While permanency planning was initially intended as a process to limit entry into and time spent in out-of-home placement, achieving "permanency" is not the same as having a permanent plan, a permanency planning process, a permanency goal or a permanent placement. According to literature prevalent in the field of permanency planning today, achieving “permanency” means having an enduring family relationship that

• is safe and meant to last a lifetime;
• offers the legal rights and social status of full family membership;
• provides for physical, emotional, social, cognitive and spiritual well-being; and
• assures lifelong connections to extended family, siblings, other significant adults, family history and traditions, race and ethnic heritage, culture, religion and language.

Over the past four years, the California Permanency for Youth Project has hosted national youth permanency convenings where participants (including child welfare professionals, advocates, youth and young adults who have experienced the foster care system) reached collective agreement about the specific elements of permanency that are important to older youth. Those elements include:

• the involvement of the youth as a participant or leader in the process;
• a permanent connection with at least one committed adult who provides a safe, stable and secure parenting relationship, love, unconditional commitment, lifelong support, a legal relationship if possible; and
• the opportunity to maintain contacts with important persons, including siblings.

In weighing the pros and cons of any permanency situation, it cannot be emphasized enough that when working with older youth in foster care, customized outcomes must be the rule. A “one-size-fits-all” philosophy is entirely inadequate.

Youth involvement in permanency planning and decision-making is absolutely essential. Planning must genuinely be guided by each youth’s wishes, hopes and dreams and must respectfully honor their feelings about past and current relationships. The involvement of caring adults in permanency planning and decision-making is also essential. The process must include those adults who represent the role of the state as custodial agent (acting in loco parentis), those adults who know the youth best and care about them the most, as well as those adults who know the youth best and care about them the most, as well as those adults who can contribute to creative problem-solving adn a successful permanency outcome. A partnership is crucial, and active and meaningful participation of each partner is critical.

In achieving any of the permanency outcomes, the objective is the optimal balance of physical,
emotional/relational, legal and cultural dimensions of permanency within every child’s and youth’s array of relationships.

• Physical permanency relates to a safe and stable living environment.
• Emotional/relational permanency relates to the primary attachments, family and other significant
relationships that offer trust and reciprocity.
• Legal permanency relates to the rights and benefits of a secure legal and social family status.
• Cultural permanency relates to a continuous connection to family, tradition, race, ethnicity, culture,
language and religion.

While some older youth report that they have found satisfying emotional permanence through relationships without a legal status, other youth report that they have only truly felt secure when a committed emotional relationship was legalized through adoption. The particular dynamic mix of all dimensions of permanency that best suits each older youth in care can only be realized as a result of a truly collaborative and totally customized planning process.

The following considerations about permanency outcomes offer additional guidance for collaborative and customized permanency planning that includes youth and adults:

• Safe, stable and secure permanency with a youth’s family of origin is a priority.
• Family preservation, reunification, adoption and legal guardianship are permanency outcomes
that offer a secure legal status and the full legal rights and benefits of family membership.
• When permanency with a youth’s family of origin can not be achieved, adoption or legal guardianship should be explored with both relatives and non-relatives. This could include adults known to a youth from within his or her network of significant relationships or previously unknown adults.
• When a legal permanency outcome can not be achieved, a plan of alternative planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA) can be made more secure by assuring the permanent commitment of a person(not merely a place to live) and reinforcing that relationship with rituals, ceremonies, a legal name change,inclusion in a family’s legal will and/or other symbols of “belonging” or “claiming.”
• In some circumstances, permanent kinship placement, informal adoption and customary adoption
(such as those found in some African American and Native American communities) may best honor a
youth’s emotional attachments as well as preserve continuity of connections to family, culture, ethnicity,religion and language.

"A Call to Action: An Integrated Approach to Youth Permanency and Preparation for Adulthood", Frey, Lauren L., Sarah G. Greenblatt, Jim Brown. Casey Family Services, 2005

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