Permanency Discussion T & TA Network Meeting ~ Washington, DC December 10, 2008

Definition of Permanency  “… Permanency is defined as a legal, permanent family living arrangement, that is, reunification with the birth family, living with relatives, guardianship, or adoption (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2005).”

Definition of Permanency Permanence is not a philosophical process, a plan, or a foster care placement, nor is it intended to be a family relationship that lasts only until the child/youth turns age 18. Permanence is about locating and supporting a lifetime family.

Definition of Permanency Planning for permanence should begin at entry into care, and be family- focused, culturally competent, continuous, and approached with the highest degree of urgency. Child welfare agencies, in partnership with the larger community, have a moral and professional responsibility to find a permanent family relationship for each child and young person in foster care.

Definition of Permanency Permanence is achieved with a family relationship that offers safe, stable, and committed parenting, unconditional love and lifelong support, and legal family membership status. Permanence can be the result of preservation of the family, reunification with birth family; or legal guardianship or adoption by kin, fictive kin, or other caring and committed adults - (Youth Permanency Framework, NRCFCPPP)

PERMANENCY OUTCOME 1 Children have permanency and stability in their living situations Item 5: Foster care re-entries Item 6: Stability of foster care placement Item 7: Permanency goal for child Item 8: Reunification, guardianship, or permanent placement with relatives Item 9: Adoption Item 10: Other planned permanent living

PERMANENCY OUTCOME 2 The continuity of family relationships and connections is preserved for children. Item 11: Proximity of foster care Item 12: Placement with siblings Item 13: Visiting with parents and siblings in foster care Item 14: Preserving connections Item 15: Relative placement Item 16: Relationship of child in care with parents

WELL-BEING OUTCOME 1 Families have enhanced capacity to provide for their children’s needs. Item 17: Needs and services of child, parents, and foster parents Item 18: Child and family involvement in case planning Item 19: Caseworker visits with child Item 20: Caseworker visits with parents

Relationship of Well-Being to Permanency Positive ratings on Services to children, parents, foster parents Involvement of parents in case planning Caseworker visits with children Caseworker visits with parents Substantial achievement on Timely achievement of permanency (Outcome P1) Preserving children’s connections while in foster care (Outcome P2) supports...

Current Issues in Permanency Concurrent Planning Placement Stability On-Going Assessment Youth & Family Engagement Supervision Visiting Substance Abuse Mental Health Issues Domestic Violence Juvenile Justice

What strategies address improvements in permanency planning? Concurrent planning Establish statewide or local permanency units Develop and implement new case plans Develop or strengthen policies and procedures Review processes for appropriateness and timeliness of permanency goals Family group decision-making Comprehensive child/youth and family assessments New training for staff on permanency planning

What strategies address permanency for youth in foster care? Expand services to youth Strengthen staff capacity Improve case planning/transitional plans Focus on transitioning Native youth

What strategies address permanency for youth in foster care? Collaborate with youth/other stakeholders Disseminate information on services Efforts to preserve youth connections, Primarily through relative searches and permanent placements Policy and procedural change

What strategies address the use of relatives as placement resources? Locate and identify relatives at the point of intake Ongoing identification and assessment of relatives Implementation of practice models or processes, such as Family Centered Practice, Family Search and Engagement; Family Group Decision Making Assess and identify barriers to use of relatives as placement resources Strengthen supervisory and management oversight

What strategies address comprehensive needs assessments? Practice change strategies Revisions to tools Consistency in practice Improve engagement of family members and stakeholders Implement practice models and/or processes Training of staff Revise policy and procedures/strengthen existing policies More frequent visits to children and families and designating a visit to be spent on assessment and developing service plans Focus on consistency between counties and POS Oversight of practice through supervisors and managers

Placement Stability Strategies Build on promising practice from more successful counties Development of foster parent support groups Training on partnerships with foster parents, agency staff, service providers Targeted Foster Family recruitment and services for older children

Parent Leadership: Successful Strategies rent_leader_strategies.pdf “Families should be involved in planning, designing, and evaluating family support at all levels of the system including Federal, State, and local.”

Expediting Permanency for Abandoned Infants: Guidelines for State Policies and Procedures This monograph reviews state laws regarding abandoned infants; suggests legal and practice standards regarding “abandonment;” defines permanency and suggests ways to incorporate this definition into state law and practice; and identifies best practices in expediting permanency for infants who are abandoned or at risk of abandonment.

National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health Mental Health Issues in States' Child and Family Services Reviews and Program Improvement Plans Child and Family Services Reviews : A Mental Health Analysis Prepared by: Jan McCarthy, Erika Van Buren and Marisa Irvine Child and Family Services Reviews : A Mental Health Analysis This Mental Health Analysis is based upon a review of the 52 Final Reports and 52 Program Improvement Plans from the first round CFSRs. Within the Analysis, readers will find: trends in mental health service delivery and administration/management noted in the Final Reports and PIPs; a summary of the mental health challenges, as well as the opportunities for reform, across all States and issues needing further consideration and study.

What is the CFSR Toolkit for Youth? The Child and Family Service Review (CFSR) Toolkit for Youth Involvement is a multi-media product that will expand over time as new materials are developed and shared nationwide. The CFSR Toolkit document provides important information on how to prepare youth and adults to work in partnership to improve the nation’s child welfare system. Youth Focus: Engaging Youth in Permanency Planning Youth Focus: Engaging Youth in Permanency Planning National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development, introduces the topic of engaging youth in permanency planning and describes how permanency is defined by youth in care. Also included is a compilation of federal and state policies and best practices that promote engaging youth in the permanency planning process.

National Resource Center for Recruitment and Retention of Foster and Adoptive Parents at AdoptUsKids (NRCRRFAP) For the next three years, the NRCRRFAP is the lead NRC providing technical assistance for the nine grantees of the Diligent Recruitment Grantee Cluster as they implement their projects. Adopt Us Kids T/TA participated in the kick-off meeting of the new, held in Alexandria, Virginia in late November. The purpose of the cooperative agreements is to fund, by awarding cooperative agreements, multi- faceted diligent recruitment programs for a range of resource families for children in foster care, including kinship, foster, concurrent and adoptive families.

CPS Training Technical Assistance, and Consultation NRCCPS helps agencies identify and implement program improvement strategies at intake, investigation, assessment, case disposition and case planning. A Comprehensive Assessment Process with NRCFCPPP

Achieving & Maintaining Permanency History, strategies and programs, legal and court issues, preparing and supporting children and youth, inter-jurisdictional placements, post-permanency services, and frequently asked questions. Permanency for special populations Older youth, children from minority groups, and children with disabilities. Family reunification Engaging parents, working with substance-abusing parents, and preventing reentry to foster care. Adoption from foster care Strategies and programs, foster/adoptive families, children waiting for adoption, legal issues and laws, and National Adoption Month. Guardianship Subsidized and standby guardianship. Permanent placements with relatives Includes resources for relative/kinship caregivers.

Child Witnesses to Domestic Violence: Summary of State Laws This document from the Child Welfare Information Gateway discusses legal measures to protect children who may be harmed by witnessing acts of domestic violence in their homes. Summaries of laws for all States and US territories are included. Children and Domestic Violence This bulletin from the Child Welfare Information Gateway addresses the impact of domestic violence on children and the resulting implications on professional practice. Resources such as websites and additional publications are also provided for further information. ce.cfm

Two Great Resources: Fathers and their Families: The Untapped Resource for Children Involved in the Child Welfare System More about the Dads: Exploring Associations between Nonresident Father Involvement and Child Welfare Case Outcomes

National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services Two Great Resources: Literature Review On Performance- Based Contracting and Quality Assurance States’ Efforts in Ongoing Communication between Public and Private Partners

ndex.html

CFSR Training and Technical Assistance Package Child Welfare Supervision as a Key Practice Change Strategy helps State leaders and supervisors understand supervisors’ critical roles as change agents and develop plans to implement these roles. Unit 1: Helping Child Welfare Leaders Re- Conceptualize Supervision Synopsis Facilitator's Guide Participant Workbook PowerPoint Presentation SynopsisFacilitator's GuideParticipant Workbook PowerPoint Presentation Unit 2: Preparing to Redesign Child Welfare Supervision Synopsis Facilitator's Guide Participant Workbook PowerPoint Presentation SynopsisFacilitator's GuideParticipant Workbook PowerPoint Presentation rengthening

ONLINE TUTORIALS & TRAINING Understanding Child Welfare and the Dependency Court: A Guide for Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals Understanding Substance Use Disorders, Treatment and Family Recovery: A Guide for Child Welfare Professionals A Participant Workbook and a Supervisor Handbook were developed by the Utah Division of Child and Family Services to support supervisors and enhance caseworker knowledge acquisition. Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Issues: A Guide for Judicial Officers and Attorneys in the Dependency System Understanding Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Issues: A Guide for Legislators

Technical Assistance in Florida on Placement Stability which began as a request for TA on recruitment and retention and expanded into Placement Stability coordinated TA with NRCCWDT; NRCRRFAP; NRCFCPPP, NRCOI, NRC

National Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues Permanency through Collaboration between Delinquency and Dependency Courts This paper, from The Center on Children and the Law, describes efforts in Idaho to bridge the gap between child welfare and juvenile justice proceedings to assist youth with cases pending simultaneously in each system. This paper includes tips for creating a dual issue system. ol10Iss2.pdf ol10Iss2.pdf

National Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues Making it Permanent: Reasonable Efforts to Finalize Permanency Plans for Foster Children. by Cecilia Fiermonte and Jennifer Renne ASFA requires that permanency plans for children are determined at regular permanency hearings. Judges must find that the child welfare agency is making "reasonable efforts" to finalize those plans. This book provides detailed information on law and practice in this area

Concurrent Planning Curriculum: In English and Spanish permanencyplanning Visiting – Developing an On Line Curriculum with the Child Welfare Information Gateway Coming Soon Webcasts: Concurrent Planning: Strategies for Implementation Family Group Conferencing: Bringing the Family into Family- Centered Framework

Teleconference Topics Jan 22 Guardianship March 19 Foster Parents as Mentors to Birth Families May 21 Intersection of Child Welfare Juvenile Justice June 18 Family Finding July 23 CW Workforce – Retention Issues Sept 17 Family Centered Approach for Juvenile Justice Webcast Topics March 24 State/Tribal IV-E Agreements – Kathy Deserly April 10 Bridging the Gap – Birth/Foster Parent Relationships – Carolyn Fowler May 28 Kinship Issues – Dr. Joe Crumbley

Permanency Discussion How do T/TA Network members engage with one another to support positive Permanency outcomes? What are the biggest challenges to implementation of practice changes for enhanced permanency? In what areas of Permanency do T/TA Network members feel they can best support states/tribes in reaching substantial conformity in Permanency 1? What strategies have worked to facilitate practice change with respect to Permanency?